The Wrath of Navarog
by FablehavenFan
Summary: When the Knights of the Dawn learn about a second set of magical artifacts, they unknowingly attract the attention of Navarog.
1. The Adventure Continues

Disclaimer: I do not own Fablehaven

**Chapter 1 - The Adventure Continues**

It was a beautiful summer day in the countryside. The sun was shining brightly down upon the forest that surrounded the preserve of Fablehaven. Small birds zipped between the trees, while rabbits and other small animals trotted across the ground.

Sitting on an inflatable recliner in the middle of the pool near the house was Kendra, who was wearing nothing but a magenta bathing suit and dark sunglasses. As the shades concealed her eyes, it was hard for one to detect that she had, in actuality, dozed off and was currently taking a catnap. A few fairies were even resting with her. Some were scattered across her body, others were on the recliner.

Life was perfect. The Society of the Evening Star had been abolished, peace had been restored to the magical world, and everyone was now free to live their lives. Coupled with the warm sunlight and the calmness of the pool water, Kendra felt as though she was enclosed within a bubble of pure bliss.

Suddenly, without any warning, Kendra felt something shake beneath her, although it wasn't strong enough to properly awaken her from dreamland. However, a few of the fairies took heed and fluttered into the air. Another shove gave way, turning the entire recliner onto its side, dunking Kendra and the rest of the fairies into the water.

The sudden shock of the water to her body filled Kendra with an immediate feeling of rage. Coughing out the water that she had accidentally swallowed, Kendra quickly surfaced and spotted an all too familiar figure trying to hide itself underneath the surface of the shallow water.

"SETH!" blared Kendra, glaring fiercely at her submerged brother. Bubbles surfaced above Seth, which Kendra and the fairies could sense were from the boy laughing while underwater. Kendra took a few steps over towards Seth, who was laughing too hard to pay her any attention, and simply ignored her and the fairies that followed.

Kendra reached into the water, grabbed Seth by his arm and pulled his upper body above the surface. Still in mid-laughter, Seth practically displayed zero reaction to his sister's anger. "You think you're _sooooo_ funny?" asked Kendra, as dozens of fairies from the garden gathered around and swarmed near her head. She awaited a response, but Seth was laughing too hard to even give one.

"You… You…" snapped Kendra, as she powerfully smacked the water with her hands, yielding no response from Seth as he got splashed.

Without any warning, the fairies that had gathered around Kendra shifted themselves over to where Seth was. They began spiraling around Seth's body, even diving underwater to reach his lower body. Kendra gazed in awe as colorful sparkles emitted themselves from the fairies and surrounded Seth in a cocoon of fairy dust.

After only a few brief seconds, the fairies flew away from Seth and allowed the dust cloud around him to dissipate. Floating where Seth had just been was now a walrus. Instantly, the fury that had built up inside Kendra was overrun with glee, as she burst out laughing at Seth's appearance.

"What did you do?" asked Seth, as he splashed around with his flippers. "Am I a… walrus?"

"Yes!" giggled Kendra. "But a real walrus! Not just a mutant!"

"Kendra!" snapped Seth, whose mind was reminiscing on the time he had become a mutant walrus two summers ago, "Change me back!"

"It wasn't my doing! It was the fairies!"

Seth poised his tusked face into the air and gazed at all the fairies that were pointing and laughing at him. He felt embarrassed, but at the same time also helpless. He then grabbed his bathing suit with his flipper. It had burst open due his transformation and was now broken.

"Get them to change me back or you're going to be in a lot of trouble!"

"Okay, I'll try," said Kendra, as she looked upwards at the floating fairies. "Change my brother back to normal!"

"Do we have to?" asked a fairy with green hair and wings that resembled the tips of two peacock feathers.

"Yes. I order all of you fairies to return Seth back to his proper self."

The fairies all snickered to one another before swarming around Seth and stirring up another magical cloud. When the cloud disappeared, it revealed that Seth had now been transformed into a donkey.

"Kendra," asked Seth. "What'd they _DO _to me?

"My brother is not a… jackass!" shrieked Kendra, who was trying her hardest to hide her laughter. "Turn him back into a human being right now!"

"You didn't say the magic word!" cried a fairy.

"Fine. I order you fairies to turn Seth back into a human being!"

The fairies grumbled, spawned a third cloud of dust around Seth and this time properly restored him to his human form. By this point, many of the fairies let themselves plunge into the pool. Seth wasted no time in swimming over to the ladder and climbing out of the pool.

"That wasn't funny!" he shouted, as he grabbed his towel off of a wooden patio chair, wrapped it around his naked waste and marched back to the house, drying himself off. "I'm telling!"

"Like they'll care! Besides, it wasn't my fault! Plus you started it!" Looking away from Seth, Kendra looked down at the nearest of the fairies that were floating on their backs in the pool. "Are you fairies okay?"

"We'll be fine!" gasped a fairy, who panted softly. "All that magic took a lot out of us."

"Just try not to do that to my brother again. All he did was push some of us into the water. Mind you, it _was_ funny what you did to him. Wish I'd taken a picture, though."

"Alright," said the fairy. "We just wanted to teach him a lesson. There was just this urge, if you know what I mean."

Kendra climbed out of the pool, grabbed her towel and dried her body off before running back to the house after her brother, who had already beaten her to the back door due to his head start.

"Mom!" shouted Seth as he dashed into the kitchen while several droplets of water rained onto the floor behind him, "Kendra rallied the fairies against me!"

"I did not!" snapped Kendra, as she made her entrance through the back door after Seth.

"Would you two kindly settle down?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, who was in the middle of preparing several sandwiches at the kitchen counter. "First change back into your clothes, then come back down and we'll talk."

"Look what they did to my swimsuit!" growled Seth, holding up his broken suit.

"I said I was sorry!"

"You're _soo _busted!" cried Seth, as he raced Kendra out of the kitchen and upstairs to the second floor. He then made his way over to his bedroom, while Kendra proceeded upstairs to the attic. Feeling that the children had matured since the incident at Zzyzx, and because the society was no longer a threat, Seth had been given his own bedroom, which had previously belonged to Lena, while Kendra opted to remain in the attic.

Seth hurriedly changed out of his towel and into his summer clothes before scurrying back down to the kitchen. As Kendra's room was now the attic, Seth had an easier time getting between his bedroom and the first floor.

"Now, what's all the commotion about?" asked Mrs. Sorenson as her son sat down at the kitchen table and she presented to him a plate with a ham sandwich on it.

"Kendra got her fairy friends to turn me into a walrus, and then a donkey!"

"Oh, did she?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, who had a hard time believing what her son was telling her.

"It's true! We were playing in the pool! All I did was splash her a bit and she went berserk! She really can't take a joke! So she got all whiny and ordered the fairies to turn me into a walrus! Then they all laughed at me! And then-

"Mom, that's not quite what happened," said Kendra, now wearing her clothes, who was standing at the entrance to the kitchen with her hand pressed against the wall.

"Seth claims that you got some fairies to turn him into a walrus."

"It's true!" added Seth, "I'm not making this up!"

"Seth, the fairies did that without my influence!"

"And what about the walrus?"

"Walrus?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Let me explain!" began Kendra. "Some fairies and I were relaxing in the pool when my _darling_ brother tipped over the recliner I was on. The fairies got _really_ mad and-

"They're back," said Dale, who had entered the kitchen.

"That's wonderful," said Mrs. Sorenson. "They're just in time for lunch."

"All right!" exclaimed Seth. "What'd they find?"

"You might want to try asking them directly, cause I'm afraid I don't know yet."

"Now, what was this about walruses and donkeys?" Mrs. Sorenson asked Kendra, as Seth hopped out of his seat and ran towards the front door.

"You don't wanna know," answered Kendra.

Mrs. Sorenson rolled her eyes, while Dale smirked in Kendra's direction before going back towards the front door.

A minute later, Dale and Seth led Warren, Tanu, Vanessa and Elise into the kitchen, where Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson greeted them all with smiles and open arms.

"Welcome back!" exclaimed Kendra as she extended her arms out and gave Warren a hug.

"Looks like someone's happy to see us," laughed Warren, as he returned a hug to Kendra.

"I bet'cha found lots of cool things!" exclaimed Seth, as he made a beeline to the foyer where the travelers' suitcases were lined up. He started to unfasten the straps on one of the suitcases when Dale startled him by placing his hand on Seth's shoulder.

"Seth," said Tanu sternly. "Please settle down. We will discuss the matter of our findings after we all sit down and have a nice lunch.

"It's just a bunch of dirty clothes!" remarked Seth, as a pile of unwashed laundry spilled out of the suitcase. "Not even a shirt that reads "My friends went to Living Mirage and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!"

After everyone on the property gathered at the dinner table and sat down to eat lunch, they all gathered around in the living room, taking seats on either the couches or armchairs. Warren, Tanu, Vanessa and Elise had taken center stage, and revealed their many findings to the others.

"And this here is a scorpion lizard figure", said Tanu as he displayed a small, pewter figure to his small audience.

"What does it do?" asked Seth.

"Nothing," replied Tanu, handing the scorpion lizard figure to Seth, "It just appears to be for decorative purposes only."

"That's the story of your trip?" said Seth disappointedly, as he returned the figure to Tanu. "I've seen cooler figures at Toys R Us!"

"Seth," said Kendra. "All you've done is complained since they got back! This trip that they took didn't promise anything!"

"That's right," said Warren. "We went to Living Mirage to excavate anything suspicious that the Sphinx or his accomplices might've left lying around. The whole journey was an exhausting chore, not a vacation to Disneyland!"

"There's also this tome we found," said Elise, as she presented an old book bound in a thick cover to Grandpa Sorenson. The cover of the tome was light brown with a tan star outline on the front. Of note was a metal seal that was used to lock the covers together much like a diary. Although the seal was still locked, it had apparently been ripped open along the middle.

"You'd think the owner lost his key or something," remarked Warren. "We couldn't find it anywhere. Not that I'm complaining. Puzzles are so much easier when the problem is already solved."

Grandpa began skimming through the tome; a baffled look appeared in his eyes. "These are just unconnected poems. Limericks and such! A few pictures here and there, but no rhyme or reason."

"That's what we didn't understand," said Vanessa. "There has to be some deeper meaning to this tome.

"It can't be a secret message," said Grandma. "They probably would've just written it in a fairy language or something. Not in English."

"I've theorized that if there even is a message, it's hidden within the poems," said Tanu.

"May I see?" asked Kendra.

"Sure," said Grandpa, handing the tome to Kendra. "Even if these poems have no real meaning, they're still interesting, I suppose.

"Within these pages," began Kendra as she read the first page aloud, "are directions to the five hidden instruments of eternal power."

"No," gasped Grandpa, who looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. "It can't be!"


	2. The Instruments of Eternal Power

**Chapter 2 - The Instruments of Eternal Power**

"What's going on?" asked Grandma nervously, as she turned to face her husband. "Stan, are you all right?"

"This is… insane," said Grandpa, as he cupped a hand over his forehead. "Kendra, would you please repeat what you've just read?"

Grandpa got out of his seat and peered over Kendra's shoulder, as she reread the line from before; "_Within these pages are directions to the five hidden instruments of eternal power_."

"Incredible," said Grandpa softly. "Dale, care to read that first line to the rest of us?"

"I'll give it a shot," said Dale, as he accepted the tome from Kendra and proceeded to read it aloud:

**_As day turns into night_**

**_The sun stops to slumber_**

**_Darkness engulfs all_**

**_Until the dawn of morning light_**

"That _is_ what it appears to read," said Tanu, who received nods from his fellow knights.

"Let me see it!" snapped Seth, who grabbed the tome from Dale's grasp and glanced at the first page. "It's just that stupid nightfall verse!"

"Seth!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson. "You've been acting obnoxiously all day! First acting up in the pool, then going through the suitcase, now this! Go to your room!"

"But mom!" whined Seth as Grandpa yanked the tome from his hands.

"Now, Seth," he said sternly. "I'm inclined to agree with her, and since this is my house, I expect you to follow my orders."

"FINE!" shouted Seth, as he angrily marched out of the room.

"Seth," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You're not in trouble. But you need to calm down! You're too worked up over nothing."

"Sorry," said Seth, as he placed a hand on the banister at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm not myself today. I've been really anxious over the Knights' returning."

"Someone's in a rotten mood," said Warren, as he and everyone else watched Seth climb up the stairs. "But let's not get off topic. What was it that Kendra read about those instruments things?"

"That's what I'd like to know," replied Grandpa. "I can't imagine that anyone else in this room but me has even the slightest hint as to what the instruments are, let alone the fact that they even exist. It's impossible for Kendra to be bluffing."

"I'm not making this up!" exclaimed Kendra. "It really does say what I've read!"

"Wait a minute," said Vanessa. "Kendra can read all sorts of mystical languages, because they're magically interpreted to her eyes, correct?"

Kendra nodded. "Well, yeah."

"Well the writing in this tome is already in English, so what exactly is Kendra even reading?

"I believe I may have a theory," said Tanu. "This tome is protected by a sort of distracter spell."

"Like the one that surrounds places like the preserves?"

"Well, yes, but this one works at little differently. Rather than merely repelling people away from the tome, this distracter spell works to fool readers by displaying seemingly unimportant texts in place of what's really written down."

"Why not just write it in a fairy language or something?" asked Warren.

"Because people would still find a way to translate it. But no one's going to bother translating something written in a language they're fluent in. However, since Kendra is fairykind, her powers enabled her to see through the phony text and enabled her to read what's really written in the tome. But think about it, this book shouldn't be written in English if it's likely older than the English language itself! "

"If only it had a copyright date," said Warren.

"Mind if I ask what these instruments of eternal power are all about, Stan?" questioned Vanessa.

"I think Kendra, with this guide at her disposal, could tell you anything you wish to know," replied Stan.

"Do I really have to read through this tome every time someone wants to look at it?"

"I have a better idea," said Elise, as she slipped out into the foyer, grabbed something from a zippered bag, and returned with a laptop, which she booted up and placed on the coffee table in front of Kendra.

"What's this for?" asked Kendra.

"We're selling the book on eBay," replied Warren.

Elise snorted as the computer's interface loaded up. "I'm going to let Kendra translate the entire book by typing it all down onto my computer."

"Really?" asked Kendra. "All of it?"

"I know it's going to be a chore," said Elise, "but the book isn't very big, and you're the only one who can read what it truly says. You'd only have to do it this one time."

"Okay," said Kendra lightly, as Elise directed her to the word processing program she had opened. Kendra laid the book down on the table beside the laptop, and proceeded to type what was truly written on the first page into the laptop.

"Rather than crowd around Kendra as she types," said Grandpa, "I say that we all find something else to do in the meantime. Kendra, let us know when you're done. If you need anything, we'll be nearby."

"Marla," said Grandpa, getting out of his chair, "I think that we should talk to Seth."

Mrs. Sorenson nodded and went upstairs to Seth's bedroom with Grandpa. Though it had previously belonged to Lena, it was now decorated with posters, action figures, a computer, a widescreen television and several video game consoles.

"Seth," said Mrs. Sorenson, "may we enter?"

"I guess," said Seth, who watched as the door opened and the two adults entered his room. While Seth was already seated at the head of his bed, Mrs. Sorenson sat down at the foot, while Grandpa sat down on Seth's desk chair.

"Seth, are you feeling alright today?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "I mean, fighting with your sister in the pool. You know how immature that was?"

"She got the fairies to turn me into a walrus _and_ a donkey! How _mature _is that?"

"Kendra said that you got the fairies wet too with your little prank. That's why they targeted you."

"That's right," said Grandpa. "You know full well that the fairies honor Kendra and will do anything for her. And you should be aware of the consequences of aggravating the fairies, especially due to your status as a shadow charmer. Besides, Kendra was kind enough to order them to change you back. She could've let you remain a walrus if she so chose."

"And what about pawing through the suitcase?" added Mrs. Sorenson. "And grabbing the tome without even so much as asking?"

"I don't know," groaned Seth. "It's just been so boring since knights left. It's the middle of summer, and we've been confined to the property ever since school finished. I thought the expedition would've had an amazing find. And when we learned it did, I guess I overreacted."

"Well, that doesn't excuse your behavior," said Grandpa, "but I'll forgive you."

"Speaking of which, what does it say in that tome?" asked Seth.

"Kendra's downstairs translating it as we speak," replied Mrs. Sorenson. "But we're requesting that you stay out of her way until she's finished. It shouldn't take long, and by then we should have all the answers."

"Seth, are you feeling okay?" asked Grandpa. "I know that you're, how should we say, full of energy, but you've really been acting up a lot today."

"I don't know," replied Seth after a short pause. "I mean, Kendra gets to be one with the fairies, while I'm stuck playing second fiddle, as usual."

"I think Seth's just stressed out," said Mrs. Sorenson.

"What would you suggest, Marla?" asked Grandpa.

"Maybe we should seek some professional help."

"Whadda 'ya mean?" asked Seth, as he glanced at both his mother and grandfather.

"Just get an expert opinion on your anxiety or something," answered Mrs. Sorenson. "If we found out what was going on inside of you, maybe we could find a way to relieve you of whatever it is that's making you tense.

"What do you mean? Are you taking me to a wizard?"

Grandpa laughed. "No, Seth. Calm down. "This isn't to do with your shadow charmer ability. She means that you'd see a therapist about your anxiety. I sincerely doubt that it's related to you being a shadow charmer.

Seth sighed. "I guess. Can you at least tell me what you _do_ know about the instruments of eternal power?"

"Off the top of my head, not a lot. Just that they were ancient prototypes of a sort to the five artifacts. Unlike the artifacts, their very existence was kept a secret even from most of the Knights of the Dawn. Over the millennia, they were seemingly forgotten to the point where the few who'd even managed to hear of them in the first place dismissed them as nothing more than myths."

"Anything else?" asked Seth.

"I'm afraid not," said Grandpa. "My knowledge of the instruments is extremely limited. I don't know what they do or where they could possibly be located. This tome that the knights found at Living Mirage is the only clue that's been discovered in eons. Hopefully, Kendra's ability to decipher the tome will serve as the missing link."

Later that afternoon, Kendra had called everyone into the living room, announcing that she had finished translating the tome onto the computer, and that Elise had gone ahead and printed off several copies for everyone to read. Everyone skimmed through the printed notes they were given, gathering up a good chunk of knowledge about the instruments.

"How can we be sure this is… true?" asked Vanessa, as she looked up from her copy of the notes.

"We can't be too positive," replied Grandpa. "As convincing as these notes may seem, there is still no concrete proof that the instruments are where they say they are, and if they do what the notes say they do."

"How do we know that the instruments haven't been removed from their vaults?" asked Warren. "We found this tome in the Sphinx's private library with the seal already torn open. He could've at least found the instrument that was circled."

"Why was only one circled?" asked Kendra.

"Hard to say," replied "Grandpa. "But I get the feeling that the Sphinx learned about this book not too long before he was overthrown, implying that he may not have been able to track down the instrument. If he had the instrument, he surely would've made use of it at some point."

"Which instrument was circled, again?" asked Seth.

"The Drakesoul," answered Tanu. "It has the ability to transform the user into a powerful dragon."

"Awesome! But… if the Drakesoul wasn't at Living Mirage, was it found at all?"

"Possibly not," replied Tanu. "The Drakesoul was either hidden very well by the Sphinx, or it was never recovered at all."

"How hard could it be to recover?" asked Seth.

"The Drakesoul is, or was, being held inside a vault known as Vertigo Volcano. The intense heat might've been too powerful for the Sphinx to deal with, at least without outside help, something he would likely avoid if he was keeping this whole operation under wraps."

"If the Sphinx had the Font of Immortality, wouldn't he be able to survive the volcano?"

"Of course not," said Grandpa. "The Font just prevented him from aging provided he drank from it regularly. Now, if he had that other instrument, the Essence of Immunity, the volcano's temperature wouldn't make him break a sweat."

"So why not go after the Essence first?" asked Vanessa.

"All of the Instruments are contained within vaults that are very difficult for human beings to traverse. Their near-inaccessible locations, along with distracter spells and a general lack of knowledge are the only defenses these vaults truly have, as they don't appear to be locked."

"Why not?" asked Warren.

"These vaults do not appear to be part of any known preserves," replied Grandpa. "And the keys to the vaults on the five hidden preserves were initially entrusted to the original caretakers. Since keys were never brought up at any point in the tome, I'm betting that the vaults simply aren't locked. If keys were mandatory, the tome would've mentioned them.

"So the Drakesoul turns the user into a powerful dragon, correct?" asked Seth.

"Or so we believe," said Grandpa. "As for the other instruments, we're clear on what they do, right?"

"Well, the Essence of Immunity makes the user pretty much invulnerable," noted Warren, to which Grandpa nodded.

"The Sizeshifter can alter the size almost anything," said Kendra.

"The Disapirit can make the user vanish," stated Elise.

"The Accelerizer can slow down time," said Vanessa.

"And if the five instruments are combined, they have the power to grant wishes," stated Tanu.

"Awesome!" chuckled Seth. "Let's get 'em!"

"Is this really a safe thing to do?" asked Grandma. "What would happen if these instruments are recovered in the name of good, but fall into the wrong hands?"

"We could use the instruments wisely," said Tanu, and simply wish for them to stop working once we no longer need them. If nothing else, by going after the instruments ourselves, we can ensure that no one will ever stumble onto them at some point in the future."

"Not only that," said Warren. "But there's no more Society of the Evening Star to worry about. We can retrieve them at our leisure."

"Nevertheless, we shouldn't waste much time with recovering the instruments," said Grandpa. "Someone else has already expressed an interest in the Drakesoul. I propose that it should be the first instrument we go after. For all we know, we could already be too late."


	3. Destination Paradise

**Chapter 3 - Destination Paradise**

"Seth Sorenson?" asked a female receptionist who was sitting behind the counter at a doctor's office.

Seth, who had been sitting in the waiting room of a therapist's office, looked up from the sports magazine he had been reading. It had only been yesterday when Kendra had translated the tome, and now Seth was trying to get some help for his own needs.

"Go on in," said the receptionist, as she pointed to a small hallway at one end of the waiting room. "It's the first door on your left."

Both Seth and Mrs. Sorenson got up from their seats and walked into the room the receptionist had directed them to. It was a well-furnished room filled with potted plants, standing lamps, bookshelves and several assorted seats, all of which had the same maroon leather padding. Seth quickly noticed the long psychiatrist's chair in the corner of the room, the kind that he had seen before in countless TV shows and movies.

As Seth fell back onto the psychiatrist's chair, Mrs. Sorenson sat down on one of the other chairs, just as the doctor himself entered the room.

"Ah, Seth Sorenson!" said the doctor with a smile as he walked over to the chair Seth was in. The doctor was a bald, middle-aged man who wore thick-rimmed glasses and a navy blue business suit. When he reached Seth, he extended his hand, which Seth shook in response. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Lyle."

"Hey," said Seth softly, a small grin forming on his face.

"And you must be Marla," said Dr. Lyle as he shook Mrs. Sorenson's hand.

"Pleased to meet you," said Marla.

"So, Seth," said Dr. Lyle as he sat down in the chair directly in front of where he patient was seated, "what brings you here today?"

"Well," began Seth, "I've just been… anxious for a while now."

"Okay," said Dr. Lyle. "For how long?"

"I guess since school got out. You see, we live on this large estate in the countryside, but there's absolutely nothing I can really do there."

"Oh, Seth, there's plenty to do there," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You know that."

"Well, I'm just jealous."

"Jealous?" asked Dr. Lyle. "Of whom? Living on a large countryside estate sounds like living at a cottage year-round. You should be proud. But go on."

"But it's sooo boring!" moaned Seth. "And if that's not enough, our friends and family get to have all the fun! They went on a trip to Asia just last week and returned yesterday! And if that's not enough, they're set to go on another trip really soon as well!"

"I see," replied Dr. Lyle, as he rolled his eyes and took down some notes on a pad of paper.

"Now don't get ahead of yourself Dr. Lyle," said Mrs. Sorenson.

"Call me Frank."

"Right. Anyway, Frank, you need to understand that these trips are not actual vacations. They're for research purposes."

"Research?" asked Dr. Lyle.

"Yes, they're actually members of a globe-trotting group of archaeologists. However, Seth isn't quite ready to go on these trips. In fact, even Kendra, my daughter wasn't able to go on the previous trip and she's my oldest.

"So this _group _just goes around the world researching ancient cultures and such?"

"Basically," answered Seth. "It's completely non-profit. Just for a learning experience. The guy who organizes it is quite wealthy, but he keeps the membership count to a minimum."

"Sounds a bit unusual," commented Dr. Lyle. "But Seth, you say you envy the fact that you don't get to go on many outings, correct?"

"Well, yeah. I'm stuck at home every day. We live in the middle of nowhere."

"Not only that," said Mrs. Sorenson, "but Seth has been rather restless lately. I don't want to get into too much detail, but I think he's just too worked up over something."

"Hmm," said Dr. Lyle, as he eyed his notes. "I think that Seth could use some time away from home for a few days. Like a personal vacation. Just to relieve his tension. If he's cooped up at home he could be developing a mild form of cabin fever or something, even if he does go on the occasional outing."

"A vacation?" asked Seth. "To where?"

"It doesn't really matter," replied Dr. Lyle, "just get away from your home for a few days. It might just clear your mind. If that's the case you should be fine in the end."

"You mean it?" exclaimed Seth.

"Well, I can't promise that it'll fix everything, but a vacation should be relaxing provided you forget about all your cares and worries and just let yourself have a good time. If your group goes on another trip, don't even worry about concerning yourself with them. Your mental health comes first."

"Thank you, Frank," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I hope that this leads somewhere."

* * *

For the rest of the day, Mrs. Sorenson and Seth did a few errands around town, picking up a few travelling items in the process. Just as dinnertime rolled around, Seth and Mrs. Sorenson finally returned home to Fablehaven.

"Get washed up!" said Ruth as Seth and his mother entered the house, "We've got some big news for you!"

"Right back at you!" cried Seth, as he dashed upstairs to use the bathroom before coming back down and entering the dining room.

Within minutes, everyone had been seated at the dining room table. Sitting in his seat, Seth looked around at everyone else in the room, all of whom were staring directly back at him.

"Seth, would you care to tell everyone what we learned today?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"The doctor said that I get to take a vacation!" answered Seth, who received some concerned muttering from everyone else at the table.

"Your life _is_ a vacation," said Kendra quietly, so that only Seth, who was seated next to her, could hear.

"What sort of vacation?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"He just needs a vacation away from Fablehaven," replied Mrs. Sorenson. To get away from being cooped up and stressed out.

"I don't mean to intrude," said Grandpa "but I feel that we should announce our finding from today. We now know the location of the vault."

"Why's that?" asked Seth. "Did the tome not say anything?"

"Not exactly," responded Vanessa. "It gave directions and co-ordinates to the vault's whereabouts, but those directions alone weren't very useful. It'd been written ages before modern maps had been developed any many areas of land had yet to be properly discovered. However, today we were able to decipher it."

"So where is this vault?" asked Seth, whose eyes had lit up. "Where is Vertigo Volcano?"

"Hawaii," replied Warren. "Not just the state, but the actual island of Hawaii".

"Of course!" snapped Seth. "I mean, duh! Volcano. Hawaii. It's so obvious! Not that it was my first guess or anything. So when are you guys going?"

"As soon as possible," replied Tanu.

"I got an idea!" said Seth with a grin. What if I take my vacation in Hawaii while the others go on their excursion? I'd stay out of their hair and everything! I mean, Hawaii sounds like a lot of fun and I've always wanted to go!"

"Hmm, it's not such a bad idea," said Mr. Sorenson. "As long as the rest of the Knights don't mind."

Seth's fellow knights all nodded back at him and smiled.

"Okay," said Warren, "but you've gotta promise us that you'll be on your best behavior and not badger us while we're dealing with the vault."

"Now hold on a second," said Grandpa, "Seth is only thirteen years old! I don't want him just hanging around alone while everyone else is off exploring the volcano."

"I will volunteer to supervise Seth during all of this," said Vanessa, who had raised her hand. "I've travelled with Seth in the past, and would be more than willing to keep my eye on him again."

After dinner, the group made travel arrangements to leave for Hawaii the next morning, and spent the rest of the evening packing their bags and making last minute preparations.

* * *

Early that following morning, Mr. Sorenson drove the group of six Knights all the way to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. From there, the Knights boarded a plane that was a direct flight all the way to Hawaii. With financial support from the Knights of the Dawn, the group was given the honor of sitting in first class seating. They were seated in a row of six seats, with three on each side of the aisle.

"Tanu," asked Seth quietly, to whom he was seated next to, "is it okay if I ask about your… goal now?"

Tanu poked his head back and forth, looking around at the other passengers on the plane. "Use this," he said, placing a laptop on the fold-out tray in front of Seth's seat. He booted up a word-processor and gestured for Seth to start typing. "Just in case."

"_Where exactly is Vertigo Volcano?" _typed Seth, as Tanu leaned over to type his response.

"_It's hidden underground near the resort that we're staying at."_

"_I see. Are you going to be able to recover the Drakesoul without me? Couldn't I help with my abilities?"_

"_We should be okay. The vault reportedly is not guarded by any monsters, only puzzles. Besides you need your vacation."_

"_How are you going to withstand the volcano's high temperature?"_

"_I have brewed up special potions that allow the human body to resist high temperatures. It is a variation of my fireproofing potion that was employed at Wyrmroost."_

"_Okay. How does the Drakesoul work?"_

"_From what we've gathered, the Drakesoul is fairly simple to use. The user must merely have the instrument in their grasp and imagine becoming a dragon. Hopefully Kendra will be able to charge the Drakesoul if necessary."_

"_So the five instruments can grant wishes when they're combined, right? Any theories why?"_

"_The five instruments, when formed together, produce the shape of a star. Individually, they are each shaped like the point of a star. Presumably, they are identical in appearance, aside for their colors._

"Gotcha", said Seth, ending his conversation with Tanu.

After many long hours in the air, the plane finally landed at the airport in beautiful Hawaii. Tanu ordered a limousine to take the group to their resort, mainly because they couldn't all fit in a single taxi. When the limo arrived at the hotel, the Knights piled out. Upon entering the gorgeous hotel lobby, Tanu signed everyone in and gave them the keys to their rooms. They rode elevator up to the tenth floor and were led to three consecutive doors down the hallway. As soon as the bellhop opened the door to Kendra and Seth's room with a keycard, the two siblings flopped down on their queen-sized twin beds.

"Don't mind us," gasped Kendra, as she let her body sink into the bed's plush mattress and pillow.

"Quite alright," said the bellhop. This room is furnished with all the essentials. Help yourself to the mini-bar if you so wish. Call room service if you need anything."

"Thank you very much," said Kendra, who was completely jetlagged. "We're just so very tired from our flight."

"Here's your tip," said Seth, as he sat up and presented the bellhop with a bill.

"Thank you. Enjoy your stay."

After lying around on their beds for a few minutes, someone knocked on their door. "It's me," said Warren.

"Enter," said Kendra.

"How are you guys?" asked Warren, upon entering the room. Much like Kendra and Seth, he appeared to be exhausted as well, but had a lot more experience under his belt as far as jetlag was concerned.

"Tired," whined Seth.

"I hear ya," said Warren. "We left the airport in New York at around 9 AM, which was nine hours ago. But with time zones taken into account, it's noon where we are now."

"I just wanna sleep," said Kendra.

"I hear ya," said Warren. "Never could build up a perfect tolerance to jetlag myself. Just gotta endure it like the rest of the world. Take it easy for now, though. We'll eat dinner in the evening, but feel free to order something from room service if you like. Or just help yourself to the mini-bar. But don't touch any booze or your parents will kill us."

"When are you guys going to go to Vertigo Volcano?" asked Seth.

"First thing tomorrow. There's no rush, and we should all have a good night's rest before embarking on such an endeavor. Seth, Vanessa's going to take you to a water park for your vacation, while the rest of us go to the vault."

"Man, I really wanted to go to the vault with you guys," said Seth disappointedly.

"Hey, I'd prefer to just go to the water park with Vanessa, but duty calls."

"Ah well, I supposed the water park is safer," said Seth, as Warren left the room. He then closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep, as did Kendra.


	4. Vertigo Volcano

**Chapter 4 – Vertigo Volcano**

The following morning, the Knights of the Dawn all woke up, had breakfast in the hotel's dining room, and were soon standing in front of the resort that they were staying at. Palm trees lined the perimeter of the driveway, which a taxi was driving on towards the front door.

"Well, here comes our ride, Seth," said Vanessa, who was carrying a small gym bag over her shoulder, as was Seth.

"You two have fun at the water park," said Elise.

"You guys need a lift?" asked Seth, as the taxi pulled up to the curb.

"We will be renting a car from a lot just down the street," replied Tanu. "But thanks anyway for the offer."

"Alright," said Vanessa, as she opened the back door to the taxi and slipped inside. "Good luck!"

Seth crawled in after Vanessa.

"See you, Seth!" said Kendra.

"Yeah, bye," replied Seth. "I just don't want to miss out on the excitement."

"We'll tell you all about our experience when we get back," said Warren. "You can see our _prize_ then too."

"You mean it?" asked Seth. Warren nodded. "I guess that works. See you later!"

Seth closed the door to the taxi, and the car then drove off away from the hotel.

"So, where're you folks going?" asked the cabbie, as he turned on his meter.

"Splash City Water Park," said Seth, "although I'd rather be going along with the others."

"Cheer up, Seth," said Vanessa, as she placed her arm around Seth's neck. "We're going to have a lot of fun today! Warren would've loved to come with us. Consider yourself lucky."

"Yeah, but he still enjoys those more serious affairs."

"Yup," said Vanessa. "He can be so headstrong."

"Vanessa?" asked Seth. "Are you and Warren… dating?"

Vanessa's heart skipped a beat. "Where did you hear that?"

"Well, I've heard that you two have a history together. Know what I mean?"

"Yes, there is some history between us. But Warren's been cautious around me ever since we met up again during what went on in the spring. We're still friends, but Warren's just taking it easy. I distanced myself from him after what happened in the Inverted Tower. The fact that I hadn't seen him for two years leading up to that instance also seems to have distanced us."

"I get it," said Seth. "That's why you and Elise are sharing a room, while Warren's with Tanu. Right?"

"Well that, plus the fact that Tanu wants us to concentrate on our duties over dating."

Seth rolled his eyes. "That Tanu. He's a nice guy, but he has no grasp on relations."

* * *

The SUV that Tanu had rented soon drove past the outskirts of town, and made its way through the tropical Hawaiian countryside. After driving down a highway for a good while, the SUV turned on to a dirt path through a small jungle.

Tanu himself was at the wheel, while Warren, sitting in the passenger seat, was serving as the navigator. He was thumbing through several pages, all of which contained information they had collected about the Drakesoul from the tome.

"Alright, Tanu," said Warren, "do you see a large, jagged rock up ahead?"

"Yes," replied Tanu, who could see the so-called rock roughly fifty yards ahead of the vehicle.

"When we reach the rock, veer left."

"But the road turns right at the rock. We'll go off-road if we turn left! We're going right."

"The notes say turn left!" shouted Warren, as the rock appeared to be getting larger and larger.

"This vault was built ages ago!" retorted Tanu, who swerved over to the right side of the road. "The land's probably changed!"

"We go left!" snapped Warren, as he reached over to the wheel, swerved the car over to the other side of the road and passed the rock on the left side.

"Are you crazy?" screamed Elise, placing her arms around Kendra.

Suddenly, the SUV began rolling down a slope quite rapidly, smashing its way past countless tree branches.

"You're gonna get us killed, you idiot!" Tanu shouted into Warren's face.

"They won't be expecting an SUV, genius!" screamed Warren. "Here we go!"

"Quit shouting!" shrieked Kendra, who was shaking madly between Elise's arms as the SUV continued down the hill.

"We're going to crash!" shouted Tanu, who had floored the brake pedal once the SUV reached the bottom of the slope. However, the car had built up too much speed going down the hill and kept rolling until it collided with a boulder before Tanu could pull the emergency brake. Fortunately, the SUV's airbags had cushioned everyone from the impact.

"I'm going to kill you," growled Tanu, as he pushed the airbag aside and exited through his door, as did the three passengers. The entire hood of the SUV had been smashed against the boulder and the engine was smoking.

Before you do that," said Warren, holding his hands in front of him, "you do realize that this IS where we need to be?"

"Just because Seth is gone does not mean you need to replace him."

"Warren, are you sure this is the spot?" asked Elise, observing the wreckage of the SUV.

"It has to be," said Warren, skimming the papers he was holding. "According to the notes, the entrance to Vertigo Volcano is right over… there."

Warren pointed over to another boulder, larger than the first one. It was a perfectly round semi-sphere, roughly the size of a tool shed.

"Wait a minute," said Kendra. "If we made it to the vault, how did we get past the distracter spell so easily?"

"Going down the hill," answered Warren suggestively. Gravity is a distracter spell's second-biggest weakness."

"What's the first?" asked Kendra.

"You."

"So how do we open this entrance?" asked Elise, who was taking a short walk around the circular boulder. "We're not supposed to need a key, but I see no way of physically opening it."

"It says that we're supposed to push the boulder to open the entrance. Don't ask how."

"That thing must weigh like ten tons!" gasped Tanu. "Even if I drank my enlarging potion I wouldn't be strong enough. You'd have to be Superman to move it!"

"There has to be a trick to it," said Warren.

"Maybe we could tie some rope around the boulder and use the SUV to tow- oh wait, you crashed the SUV!"

"Look," groaned Warren, as he leaned again the boulder. "I didn't think- whoa!"

Warren toppled over next to the boulder, which he had somehow pushed back several feet.

"How'd you do that?" exclaimed Tanu.

Warren smirked as get got back on his feet. "Tanu, from now on call me Superman."

"Come on," said Elise, "let's move this boulder some more."

Elise placed her hands on the boulder, and was startled at how light the boulder truly was, like it was hollow and made out of cardboard, as she pushed it entirely out of its original position. The ground was much darker where the boulder originally stood, and in the immediate center was a staircase leading underground.

"So," said Tanu. "This is the entrance. Rather than locking it, they leave a false barrier."

"I don't get it," said Warren. "The ancients go through all this trouble to hide the Drakesoul in some obscure, yet supposedly elaborate vault, but they can't even bother to lock the front door?"

"That's it?" asked Elise. "We just go down and in?"

"I… guess so," replied Tanu. "We've got the pages that cover the Vertigo Volcano with us. Our equipment's in the car. We might as well go."

After everyone retrieved their gear from the trunk of the SUV, Tanu glanced back at the car, painfully admiring the wreckage that it had become in such a short amount of time.

"Should I lead the way?" asked Kendra, who was staring down the steep staircase.

"Be careful," replied Tanu. "Warren, keep your eye on Kendra as much as possible and always remain close by her side."

"Can do," said Warren as he followed Kendra down the stairs and beneath the surface of the Earth. The two of them were soon followed by Tanu and Elise.

"How deep do these stairs go?" asked Kendra after what felt like several lengthy minutes. The bottom of the stairs seemed to still be out of sight from where she was.

"Deep," answered Elise. "Unfortunately, we don't know _how_ deep."

"That reminds me," said Tanu, as he wiped his sweating brow and reached into his potions bag. "I want everyone to drink a dose of my heat-proofing potion!" He then proceeded to hand Kendra, Warren and Elise each a vial of a cyan-colored liquid.

Kendra uncorked her vial and downed the contents, as did the rest of the group. "It's so cold!" exclaimed Kendra with a startled look etched on her face. "Like you'd just taken it out of the freezer!"

"The best way to battle heat is with coldness," stated Tanu. "While these potions will protect you from intense heat, they are in no way infallible against direct contact of, say… the lava itself."

"You think these stairs are bad?" asked Warren. "We're probably gonna have to climb UP them to get outta here, and that'll be after we've tired ourselves out retrieving the Drakesoul."

"That's IF the Drakesoul's even still here," said Elise.

"The tome's been correct so far," said Kendra. "Our only hope is that the Sphinx never got to this point."

"Once this ordeal is over with, we get to call a tow truck as well," noted Tanu.

After walking down the stairs for a few more minutes, Elise pulled out a digital thermometer and stared at it in awe. "It's like an oven in here!" she gasped. "It's over one-thousand degrees at this point!"

"We'd be cooked at this point if not for my potions," said Tanu. "But at least they're doing their job."

"I can see the bottom up ahead!" said Kendra as she skipped down the rest of the stairs.

"Be careful!" said Warren cautiously. "We don't know for sure what could be lurking at the bottom."

"Oh… my… god!" gasped Kendra, as she looked around at the bottom of the stairs. "You guys gotta see this!"

Warren, Tanu and Elise quickly joined up with Kendra at the bottom of the stairs, and couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were on a ledge in a large, near-spherical cavern, with rivers of lava flowing not only below them, but on the walls and ceiling as well. Vertigo Volcano was defying gravity as they knew it.

"What is this place?" asked Kendra.

"Vertigo Volcano," answered Warren. "But, you knew that, right?"

"Where do we go from here?" asked Elise, peering over the edge of the small, rocky platform they were standing on. "Does the entrance we took lead to a dead end or something? We can't continue!"

Tanu took a look around the ledge they were standing on. "Hmm, I can't help but notice that this ledge curves into the wall next to the entrance and starts to create a path."

"Too bad the path's on the wall," said Kendra. "We can't follow out."

"I have an idea," said Warren, as he placed one of his boots on the wall and nearly toppled over as the force of gravity pushed his body onto the path. Steadying his balance, Warren stood up straight, standing entirely on the wall.

"How'd you do that?" asked Kendra.

"It's my lucky day!" laughed Warren. "I get to be both Superman _and_ Spider-Man!"

"Let me try," said Kendra, as she casually walked onto the path, her entire body now standing on the wall, which from her perspective, had become the ground, she took a look around the disorienting cavern, trying to remember which way was up. "What if we fall?"

"I'm not quite sure how the gravity in here works," replied Tanu, but if we stay on that path, we should be okay."

Warren took hold of Kendra's hand and led her down the path while Tanu and Elise walked onto the wall and followed them. The path twisted and turned along the vast wall of the cavern, and eventually branched onto a large, long piece of cylindrical rock that stretched from wall to wall, like a giant log spanning across a gorge. As she and Warren stepped onto the long rock, Kendra realized that by looking at where they had entered the room, they were now standing entirely upside down.

Kendra looked up to the bottom of the cavern, and saw a pool of lava boiling no more than fifty feet below her. Looking down to the top of the cavern she saw more even lava. Feeling disoriented, Kendra took a misstep and lost her balance. Kendra and Warren's hands had got so sweaty that Warren lost his grip on her. In just a split second, Kendra shrieked as she began to fall upwards into the higher pool of lava.


	5. Mind Games

**Chapter 5 – Mind Games**

"I GOTCHA!" screamed Warren, as his arm swooped down and grabbed Kendra by her wrist just before she could fall out of his reach. Warren was lying face down on the rock platform, his arm stretched down below him, with Kendra dangling for her life at the end of it.

"Help me!" groaned Warren, who was struggling to keep his balance with his other and his legs. Tanu and Elise wasted no time in helping Warren to his feet and in turn bringing Kendra back up to the platform.

Kendra breathed heavily and gave Warren a hug. "You… saved… me…" she gasped in between breaths.

"It's okay now," said Warren, patting Kendra's back. It's all over now. You need to be extremely careful."

"I propose that we take extra precaution," said Tanu, pulling a rope out of his bag, which he handed to both Kendra and Warren. "Tie this around the both of you."

Kendra and Warren proceeded to themselves each to one end to the rope, continued along the bridge to the other side, and onto another path on a wall. The path went further down the wall before entering a tunnel. From what Kendra could tell, the four of them were probably still walking at a bizarre angle, until they emerged in another room similar to the previous one.

Looking ahead, they could see that the path itself, which was darker than the rest of the wall, was wobbling back and forth, as if it were an animated painting.

"What's this all about?" asked Kendra.

"I think it means we need to keep our feet on the path at all times, even though it continues to move," replied Elise. "I'll go first. Tanu, get me some rope."

"Okay," responded Tanu, as he removed a second piece of rope from his bag, "but this is the only other rope I have. "I'm afraid it isn't long enough to reach the other side of the moving path, even if we tied it to the other rope."

After the ends of the rope was tied to herself and Tanu, Elise stepped onto the first part of the moving portion of the path, which swayed back and forth, even though she couldn't feel anything move under her feet. She did what she could to stay on the path, and tugged for Tanu to follow her when the rope became taut.

"Easy," said Warren, as he watched Elise and Tanu walk across the moving path, twisting and turning as the path did in order to remain on it. "You're almost there, Elise!"

"Made it!" exclaimed Elise, as she reached the end of the moving portion of the path. Within mere seconds, Tanu had joined up with her at the other side.

"Our turn," said Warren, as he extended his hand, motioning for Kendra to go ahead of him.

"Do I have to cross it?" asked Kendra.

"Ladies first. But don't worry. We've got a rope this time in case you fall."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she started her way down the moving path, as Elise and Tanu did before her.

Something felt odd to Kendra, as she continued down the path, which stretched itself outwards and rippled across the wall, as if it were a pond and someone had tossed a stone into it. However, once the path reached a certain point, it began to bounce back inwards. Kendra and Warren rushed around, unable to predict the path's erratic movements.

"Warren!" screamed Kendra. "The path is disappearing!"

Warren glanced at Kendra, and noticed that the path was indeed closing in beneath her feet, and getting closer by the second. He then leapt across from where he was standing to a section of the path that was closer to where the end was, and from there leapt to the end, where Elise and Tanu were standing.

Kendra screamed as the path vanished from beneath her, and she began falling upwards, away from the wall, heading directly towards a lake of magma at the opposite end of the cavern. Fortunately, the rope she was tied to kept her suspended in midair, as Warren, Elise and Tanu fished her up onto the path they were on.

"Why did that happen?" asked Kendra, breathing heavily once more.

"I don't know," answered Tanu. "Probably some sort of safety precaution. After all, no monsters are here to stop us."

"Odd," said Warren. "It's one thing for monsters to guard a vault. It's another for the vault to guard a monster. Namely the Drakesoul.

"Well, come on," said Tanu. "The sooner we can retrieve the Drakesoul and get out of here, the better."

The group followed the path through another tunnel, and emerged in another cavern. They then followed another winding path, which thankfully was inanimate, and presented no challenge in crossing.

"Now what?" asked Kendra, as she looked at the sight that was now before them. A vast, empty grid was carved onto the floor before where they were standing. "Are we supposed to cross this a certain way?

"I dunno," said Elise. "There's nothing to indicate how we're supposed to cross this!"

"Maybe we need to mimic chess pieces or something," said Warren suggestively.

"I have an idea, but I don't know if it'll work." Said Kendra.

"A farfetched idea is better than no idea at all," said Tanu. "What is it?"

"Well, this grid is the same length across as the winding path we were just on, right?

Tanu glanced at the grid, which was composed of sixty-four squares, then looked back at the path behind them. "I'd say it is. Are you saying we need to emulate the first path on this grid?"

"I suppose."

"I'll try first to make sure," said Elise. "Someone will need to give me directions."

"Okay," said Warren, looking back at the path. "I'll need to imagine that there's a grid on this first path, and that I'm leading someone down it. Now, walk two squares up the third row from the left."

"Okay, I'm still alive," retorted Elise, as she walked to where Warren had instructed her.

"Hold on," said Tanu, whipping out a pen and pad of paper. "Warren, you can save time for the rest of us by writing down the directions as you speak.

Warren accepted the pen and paper from Tanu, and continued guiding Elise down the path, while taking down his own directions. Soon Tanu followed behind Elise, and had an easier time with following Warren's written directions. Before long, Elise and Tanu had made it to the other side safely, and the others soon caught up with them.

The path curved around another corner, bending in countless directions, to the point where Kendra stopped fretting about which way would be considered "up", and simply went with the flow. After crossing several more narrow ledges the four knights entered another tunnel. However, it only led to a dead end and a small pit.

Warren let out a deep whistle as he gazed down the pit. It was roughly twenty feet deep, with a pool of magma boiling at the bottom.

"What are we supposed to do now?" asked Elise. "We can't go any further."

"Hmm," muttered Tanu, as he began to pace back and forth, trying to interpret his surroundings, as if he was looking for a clue. "Have we come the wrong way?"

"This seemed to be the _only_ way," replied Warren. But even the tome didn't contain exact directions through the vaults. Just on what to expect within them."

"At least reread the notes," said Tanu, as he gulped down a second potion and handed more bottles to the others. "And drink this. The first dose won't last much longer."

Warren downed his potion as he read through the notes on Vertigo Volcano. "I dunno," he said after he finished drinking. "It just says that within Vertigo Volcano, not a single creature is to be found lurking. Appearances are deceiving. Go against your instincts to reach the end."

"Instincts or no instincts, I am NOT jumping in there," said Kendra.

"Perhaps there is a way to maybe drain the well?" suggested Tanu. "Like a hidden lever?"

"We've seen no mechanisms of any sort this entire time," said Elise. "I can't imagine why the designers would resort to that when they have plenty of magic to create this vault in the first place."

"I think we need to examine the well more closely," said Warren. "Kendra, mind if I tie your end of the rope to Tanu instead?"

"I guess so, for now," said Kendra, who didn't quite like the sound of Warren's plan.

"I don't think this is a good idea," said Tanu, who raised his arms as Warren tied the rope around his sturdy waist.

"I'll be careful," said Warren, as he climbed down into the well. "Try to keep me in place as you lower me!"

Warren let go of the ledge, and let himself dangle in the air as Tanu slowly lowered the rope. "See anything?" asked Tanu.

"Nope," replied Warren, as he took a good look around the wall of the well.

"Oh no!" screamed Tanu, who suddenly tried to reel Warren in, before the rope snapped and Warren dropped into the magma below, shouting along the way.

WARREN!" shrieked Kendra, who was breathing deeply and could sense that she was about to cry.

"The rope snapped because of the heat," said Tanu with a worried look. "But the magma didn't affect him."

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra fearfully.

"Warren's fall didn't break the surface of the magma. He passed through it and continued to scream for help."

"So this magma is fake?" asked Elise.

"It must be," said Tanu, as he bent down and climbed down the well with no one holding onto his rope. Kendra squirmed when she saw that was Tanu was hanging directly above the magma. "Here goes!"

Tanu stuck his boot into the magma and pulled it out. "Not even a drop! Elise, help Kendra climb down and come in after me. I'm going to try and find Warren."

Kendra watched as Tanu went beneath the surface of the _magma_ and proceeded to spelunk down the well with Elise. As Kendra's hands and feet lowered from groove to groove down the well, she couldn't help but be intimidated by the magma, even if it was just a decoy. When she got to the bottom of the well, Kendra hastily stuck her foot into the magma, remaining completely unharmed.

"Here goes nothing!" said Kendra. "Ready, Elise?"

Elise smiled. "On three! One, two-"

"Three!" chimed in Kendra as the two of them slipped below the fake surface of the lava, under which was an underground river of water. The deep river instantly washed them down a sloped tunnel.

"What's this all about?" asked Elise.

"I don't know, but it's fun!" laughed Kendra. "And the water's ice cold too!"

"Looks like we got to go to the water park after all!" laughed Elise.

"Watch this be a trap," said Kendra. "A sick idea of a trap."

The river reached the bottom of the slope and the flow slowed down until they emerged in a small room where Warren and Tanu were waiting with smiles on their faces.

"There you are!" said Tanu happily as he helped Elise out of the water, while Warren did so with Kendra.

"Is this it?" asked Kendra. She looked around the dome-shaped room, and saw nothing but a stone pedestal in the center.

"No, _this_ is it!" said Warren as he reached behind the pedestal and pulled out a green emerald roughly the size of a football. The small end of it was embedded in a gold casing.

"The Drakesoul!" shrieked Kendra.

"We couldn't get it to work," said Warren as he squeezed the Drakesoul and closed his eyes shut. "See?"

"Be careful," said Tanu. "That thing is not a toy."

"It has to be," said Warren. "Batteries not included. That's your cue, Kendra."

Warren held out the Drakesoul in his hands and presented it to Kendra. Seeing the Drakesoul up close, Kendra noticed just how beautiful the instrument truly was. She placed her hands on the Drakesoul and it suddenly began to glow.

"Can we test it out here?" asked Warren.

"I'd rather not," said Tanu. "We're in a confined, logic-defying space with no idea as to how this thing properly works. It could be trouble. Let's wait until we're out of the vault first."

"Okay," said Warren, as he placed the Drakesoul in his bag. "So how do we get out?"

"I noticed that the river keeps going," said Kendra. "Maybe we should continue to follow it."

"Might as well," said Tanu. "We'll get in the water together and ride it wherever." He then leapt into the drink and waited for the others to follow his lead. They then grabbed each other's hands and let the flow of the water carry them further down the river

The river kept flowing downwards more and more, until Kendra realized that the river wasn't just going downhill, but it a circle, as if the whole river was one giant loop. It made sense, given that they were still inside Vertigo Volcano.

Up ahead, they could see the bottom of the well, where they had first fallen into the river. Everyone moved to the wall and grabbed onto the grooves. Looking up, they could see the fake surface of magma floating in midair above them.

Eventually, the four knights climbed out of the well and backtracked their way through Vertigo Volcano. Kendra was impressed. This vault had felt both safe and dangerous at the same time. It had been filled with boiling magma, but not a single monster was guarding the place. Nevertheless, she felt much better knowing that the worst part was behind them, and that the best part was now with them.

At long last, they had ascended the vast staircase that served as the entrance to the well. Though it felt like the expedition had only been a few minutes long, the group had been down in the vault for several hours. Once they reached the top and emerged in the jungle, they pushed the massive stone back over the entrance, sealing the place up once again.


	6. Drakesoul

**Chapter 6 – Drakesoul**

Kendra wiped her brow and glanced up at the vast blue sky. She was relieved to finally be out of Vertigo Volcano and on the surface of the Earth once again. Although her body was able to shield itself from the intense heat with the help of Tanu's potions, it was a relief to be back on proper land. The warm, Hawaiian breeze felt like an Arctic wind compared to the blistering hot tunnels of the vault. Not to mention that the rest of the world felt far less disorientating.

"Just look at this mess," said Tanu, as he walked over to the smashed-up SUV. "Not only do we get to wait around for a tow truck, but my insurance premiums are probably going to go through the roof!"

"Can I look at the Drakesoul again, Warren?" asked Kendra.

"I thought you'd never ask," said Warren, as he reached into his bag and brought out the sacred treasure. "Wanna see if it works?"

"I don't know," said Kendra confusedly. "It could be dangerous."

"Yeah, but that's why if we're going to try it anywhere, it might as well be here."

"What if one of us gets stuck as a dragon or something?" asked Kendra.

"Well, according to our notes, the user of the Drakesoul must be in contact with it at all times, or else its power wears off."

"I guess I'll try it first, just to be safe," said Warren, holding the Drakesoul in front of him. "All I have to do is imagine becoming a dragon, and it should work.

Warren closed his eyes and held the Drakesoul firmly. Suddenly, a bright, green flash of light emitted from Drakesoul. Kendra and Elise's mouths dropped in awe as Warren grew bigger. His clothes were absorbed into his skin, which had turned to a scaly, bright green. Before they knew it, Warren's entire body had grown into that of bipedal green dragon, complete with large wings and a tail.

"Warren…" said Kendra amazedly. "It worked. You're… a dragon."

Warren looked down at Kendra and Elise, whom he towered over, then directed his attention over to Tanu, who was busy shouting into his cell phone and glaring at the SUV. "Awesome," he said in a deeper version of his own voice. "Tanu needs to see this!"

Warren stepped over to where Tanu was, his dragon footsteps causing small tremors with each step he took.

"Look, I've been in a bad accident," said Tanu into his phone, before Warren stepped before him. Tanu gazed up at Warren and dropped his phone in disbelief.

"It works," said Warren, who was pointing to the Drakesoul that he was holding in one claw. Although it was still roughly the size of a football, it looked much smaller in Warren's dragon claw.

"My lord!" said Tanu, as he picked up his dropped phone, his eyes fixated on the dragon. "You could've warned me, though!"

"Need help getting this thing back up the hill?" asked Warren, as he placed his claws around the vehicle and lifted it up in the air, while still holding onto the Drakesoul. With the SUV is his grasp, it appeared to roughly be the equivalent of an adult lifting up a child.

"He's strong," said Elise pleasantly.

Warren proceeded to carry the SUV up the hill, barely struggling as he did so. Once it was at the top, he let himself slide down the hill as if he was snowboarding.

"I just realized something," he laughed, "I've got wings! I could've flown the car up the hill."

"I appreciate you getting the car up the hill," said Tanu, "but you might want to give the Drakesoul a rest. It needs to be used responsibly."

"Okay," said Warren, as he closed his eyes and allowed the Drakesoul to return him to his normal, human self. "You wanna give it a try, Kendra?"

"It doesn't look so bad now that I've seen you try it," said Kendra as she accepted the Drakesoul from Warren. "It honestly looks pretty fun!"

Kendra held the Drakesoul firmly and squinted her eyes shut as she had seen Warren do so. She could feel the Drakesoul glowing brightly in her hands and could sense that her body was expanding. Her nose and mouth stretched out into a snout, while her next extended itself somewhat. Wings sprouted out from her back, as a tail burst out of the end of her spine. Looking at her arms, Kendra could see that they were now made up of sparkling rainbow scales. Kendra dropped the Drakesoul in excitement, quickly causing her to revert to her human form.

"Kendra, are you alright?" asked Elise.

"What happened to me?" asked Kendra.

"You turned into a beautiful dragon," said Warren. "Way more impressive than that typical green one I became. I snagged a photo on my camera phone. Take a look."

Warren displayed his camera phone to Kendra, and she still couldn't believe what she had become. She was a dragon all right, but her scales sparkled with a rainbow-colored hue. The horn on her head was actually a unicorn horn, and her butterfly-shaped wings were translucent, much like a fairy's.

"That's incredible," said Kendra in awe.

"Must be because you're fairykind," said Warren. "You probably have some wicked powers as a dragon."

"Enough fooling around with the Drakesoul," said Tanu, who had now gotten off of his cell phone, "I've just called for a tow truck. We need to stay here and wait."

"Why wait?" asked Warren, as he took back the Drakesoul from Kendra. "I bet I could fly us back to civilization." He then used the Drakesoul and turned into his dragon form for a second time.

"But someone has to wait around for the tow truck!" said Tanu.

"You seem pretty eager, Tanu. _You_ can wait. You girls want a lift?"

"Of course!" said Kendra, as she climbed onto Warren's reptilian back.

"I've never rode a dragon before," said Elise, as she graciously climbed on to Warren's other side.

"See ya, Tanu," said Warren, as he stretched out his wings and proceeded to flap them. Soon, his body began to float above the ground, and he ascended upwards, into the air.

Soon Warren soared above the trees of the jungle, and drifted through the air.

"Warren, how come you just know how to fly like this?" asked Kendra, as she held on tightly to one of Warren's spines.

"I dunno. Must be an instinctive trait of my dragon form."

"You think you have other powers?" asked Elise.

"Couldn't tell ya," remarked Warren. "I only assumed that Kendra's fairy powers would transfer over to her dragon form, but we've never got a chance to test them. Once we get back to the hotel no one's using the Drakesoul until we're back at Fablehaven where it's safe."

Soon Warren approached the outskirts of town, and was flying up high in the sky. Peering downwards and using their sense of judgment, the group was able to located the hotel, which was almost directly beneath them. Warren performed a tailspin down through the atmosphere, rearing upwards just slightly before reaching the roof of the hotel, and making a gentle, yet impressive first landing on it.

"Hope no one saw us," said Kendra, trying to straighten her hair from the turbulence as she and Elise disembarked from the back of their friend.

"Well," said Warren, as he allowed himself to revert back into a human, "I was a magical creature just now. I doubt I attracted too many oblivious eyes."

"What about Seth and Vanessa?" asked Kendra.

"We shouldn't worry about them too much," said Elise. "After all, they aren't supposed to worry about our operation. They're on holiday. Besides, they're probably busy at the water park. They won't be back until dinner. Still, I'll text Vanessa and she can check it when she gets a moment."

Later that afternoon, Tanu returned to the hotel, and explained that the SUV had been towed to the garage. Unfortunately the crash wasn't entirely covered by his insurance, and much of the payment had to come from the Knights of the Dawn. However, he was exhausted by the end of his trip, and spent the rest of the day sprawled out on his bed.

At dinnertime, the four knights sat at a table in the hotel's dining room and placed their orders for dinner. It was a vast, well-decorated room filled with large, round tables, all of which were draped with silky white table cloths. Kendra assumed that this room was regularly used for large gatherings and parties.

After only a few minutes, Vanessa and Seth entered the room and walked up to the table. Their hair was still somewhat damp and matted, and they both carried a mild whiff of chlorine.

"Finally we get here!" said Seth, as he took the seat next to Kendra.

"You two have fun at the water park?" she asked.

"You bet!" said Seth. "I went on the waterslides thirty-one times! Vanessa however just lounged in the lazy river half the day! Bor-ing!"

"It was peaceful," said Vanessa, who had sat down next to Warren. Warren was too concentrated on eating his dinner roll to properly greet Vanessa, although he did glance at her.

"So you guys really got the Drakesoul?" asked Seth. "Can I see it?"

"Later," said Tanu. "Let's just try to enjoy our dinner first!"

"You guys got to use it?" asked Seth.

"Yup," said Warren, as he withdrew his phone and displayed Kendra's photo to Seth. "This is your sister, believe it or not!"

Seth winced at the photo, but his eyes suddenly lit up. "Cool! But, it figures that Kendra would be all fancy and glittery!"

"Aren't you going to order something, Seth?" asked Vanessa, as she placed a menu in front of him. "We've had a long day and haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"Fine," said Seth, as he glanced at the menu very briefly before placing it down. "I know what I'm having."

"You seem full of energy," said Kendra. "Shouldn't you be tuckered out after spending all day at the water park? I know we are."

"Yeah, tell us about Vertigo Volcano!" said Vanessa eagerly.

The group proceeded to tell Vanessa and Seth all about Vertigo Volcano throughout much of the dinner, which went by smoothly. Afterwards, Seth and Vanessa told them all about their day at the water park, the biggest highlight being that one of the slides got closed after someone hurt themselves on it.

"And getting back here was no picnic," explained Vanessa. "There was so much traffic, that the cab ride back here cost a small fortune! That's why we're so late!"

"Hey, now that you guys have the Drakesoul, will we be going home tomorrow?" asked Seth.

"I'm afraid not," said Tanu. "The four of us will be departing for home tomorrow. You, Seth, are still on your vacation. Remember, the idea is that our activities are not supposed to conflict. You can meet up with us when you return from here next week. That was the plan all along, remember?"

"I guess," said Seth stubbornly, as he dug his fork into a slice of pineapple pie. "I wouldn't want to jump the gun."

After dinner was finished, the group retreated back upstairs to their rooms to wash up. Within almost no time at all, Seth was banging heavily on the door to Warren and Tanu's room until Tanu opened up the door. Seth barged in the room with a huge grin plastered on his face. Kendra entered after him.

"Hey, Seth," said Warren, who was sitting on his bed, reading a copy of the notes that Kendra had translated. "You want to see the Drakesoul, right?"

"Please?" asked Seth. "You guys are going back tomorrow and I'm probably staying here until next week!"

Kendra shrugged. "Might as well. Let him get the excitement out of his system. Maybe he'll calm down a bit."

"All right," said Warren, as he leaned over to face his nightstand and bent down to open the drawer. He then pulled out his strapped leather bag and placed it on the nightstand itself. Warren then reached into the bag and removed the green jewel, holding it firmly in his hands.

"Awesome!" said Seth, his eyes all lit up. "So the tome was right! Can I see it for myself?"

Warren squinted upon hearing Seth's request. "Um, I dunno. It could be dangerous here. Maybe when you get back to Fablehaven."

"Oh come on," said Seth. "I just want to hold it for a second. I won't abuse it. I _promise_."

"Well…"

Kendra suddenly felt a strange sensation overcome her. "Warren!" she shouted. "No!"

"Give it to me!" screamed Seth in a fierce tone of voice, as he lunged at Warren, knocking his head into the bed's backboard. Seth then ripped the Drakesoul from Warren's hands, grabbed his copy of Kendra's notes, and made a beeline for the door.

"SETH!" blared Tanu, who chased him across the room to the door.

"What's he DOING?" asked Kendra, a befuddled look covering her face.

"I don't know," said Warren worriedly, as he grabbed his sword and headed out the door after Seth. "Grab Vasilis and follow me!"

Warren dashed down the hallway after Seth, who opted to head down the stairs rather than wait for an elevator. Seth scampered down the stairwell as fast as his legs could carry him, while Warren hotfooted after him. Once Seth reached the first floor, he stumbled to free one of his hands so that he could open the door that stood before him. Warren barely caught up with Seth as he opened up the door, and clenched his free hand on Seth's shoulder.

"Let go!" snarled Seth, as he elbowed Warren in the chest before forcing his way through the door. As Warren shrugged off Seth's attack, he could hear someone running down the stairwell several stories above him, whom he assumed was Kendra. However, Warren wasted no time in following Seth through the door down the hallway that followed.

Seth barged his way out of the door at the end of the hallway and stumbled onto the deck of the hotel's outdoor swimming pool. Looking around the deck, Seth could see numerous guests either swimming in the large rectangular pool, walking around, sitting on deck chairs, or relaxing in the hot tub.

"Gotcha!" snapped Warren, as he wrapped an arm around Seth's body, while holding the blade of his sword in front of Seth's face.

"Just what do you think you're _doing_?" asked a nearby woman.

"Get out of here!" shouted Warren aloud. "Everyone! Now!"

Seth jerked Warren off of his body with an unnatural amount of physical force, causing him to drop his sword. Kendra came through the door carrying Vasilis, and received just as many surprised looks as Seth and Warren did.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra, as Seth ran to the other side of the pool.

"That," said Warren, as he picked up his fallen sword and pointed to the other side of the pool.

From the far side of the pool, Seth clenched the Drakesoul firmly as his face lit up. The Drakesoul then lit up with a bright, green glow, and Seth's body began to expand. Seth cackled as he grew larger and larger. Wings, claws, horns, spines and a tail all sprouted from his body, while his clothes sunk into his skin, which had turned as black as ink. To their horror, Kendra and Warren witnessed as Seth's body transformed into a dragon. However, Seth had not just become any old dragon; Seth had turned into Navarog.


	7. Rage

**Chapter 7 - Rage**

Everyone else on the pool deck stared in awe at where Navarog was standing. They were surprised, no doubt, but were oblivious to the true fear that the demon prince was radiating. As he was a magical creature, only Kendra and Warren could see Navarog for whom he truly was.

"What are all those vultures doing?" asked someone who pointed at Navarog.

"I'm back!" said Navarog to Kendra and Warren in a booming voice.

"Can everyone else… hear him?" asked Kendra nervously, placing her free hand around Warren's, as they both stood with their swords drawn.

"I don't think so, but let's hope not," replied Warren, who could see that several bystanders were taking photographs of Navarog instead of fleeing.

"You!" said Navarog, pointing his claw at the two knights. "Come with me!"

"No way!" yelled Warren, as he stood In front of Kendra.

Navarog snorted. "Get lost, Warren!"

Navarog took in a deep breath before suddenly exhaling a wave a fire before him. Everyone but Kendra and Warren screamed and scurried to make their way to the exit of the pool deck. The fire missed Warren and Kendra, but managed to incinerate several chairs, tables and umbrellas.

"I missed," said Navarog, as he blasted a narrower stream of fire at Warren. Warren dodged the fire, which attempted to chase him around the deck. Warren then dove into the pool, figuring that he'd be safe from the fire.

"How clever," said Navarog. "Guess I'll just drown you instead." Navarog then took in another deep breath and unleashed a massive onslaught of flames across the entire pool. Warren ducked underneath the surface of the water, but was hesitant to come up for air.

"Leave him alone!" shrieked Kendra, as she charged at Navarog, holding Vasilis in front of herself like a battering ram. When the sword made contact with Navarog's left leg, it pierced the skin like a hot knife through butter, prompting him to cease fire and scream in pain. He dropped the notes and the Drakesoul, which in turn caused him to revert back into Seth. As that happened, Vasilis fell out of his cut and hit the ground.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Warren, who had surfaced from the pool and was gasping for air.

Seth winced as he glanced at Vasilis. "Stupid sword. I should've known." Seth then grabbed the Drakesoul before Kendra could do so and turned into Navarog for a second time, although he retained his cut from before. Navarog then picked up Vasilis by the handle and tossed the sword behind him over the fence at the far side of the pool.

"Down the hatch," said Navarog, as he placed the Drakesoul into his mouth and swallowed it. He then proceeded to grab both Kendra and the fallen notes with one claw.

"Help!" shrieked Kendra.

"Navarog?" gasped Tanu, who had arrived at the entrance to the pool along with Vanessa and Elise.

"What's this?" asked Navarog. "Come to join the party?"

Vanessa pulled out her blow dart gun and dashed across the pool deck to where Navarog was standing. Before Navarog could react, Vanessa blew a dart at Navarog, only for it to rebound off of his thick, scaly skin.

"Oh, that was effective," said Navarog sarcastically. "Now it's my turn!"

Navarog shot a blast of fire at Vanessa, making direct contact with her body. Vanessa screamed in pain before jumping in the pool to douse the flames.

"Guess the water park wasn't enough for ya."

"STOP!" yelled Kendra, as she struggled to get free from Navarog's grasp, but was unsuccessful in squirming herself loose. Tears were forming in her eyes.

Tanu pulled two potions out of his pouch and handed them to Elise. "Get one of these to Kendra. She can drink it to escape from Navarog. The other one's for you."

"I'm not falling for that," said Navarog, as he watched Elise run around the deck towards where he was standing. He shot a blast of fire at Elise, who immediately backed up before it could hit her.

"Get back here!" snarled Navarog, as he shot a blast of fire at the entrance to the pool deck, setting a small section of the building ablaze. "Now I've got you weaklings trapped!"

Navarog jumped into the pool, causing a fairly large splash as he hit the water, and nearly crushed Vanessa. Blood from his cut was seeping into the pool. He glared at Tanu and Elise, until he felt something bump into his other leg. Looking down, he could see that it was Vanessa.

"You can go first," said Navarog, as he picked up Vanessa with his other claw. Her body was covered in mild burn marks.

"No!" yelled Kendra.

"Shut up!" roared Navarog into Kendra's ears. "You cannot defeat me!"

"Put them down!" yelled Warren, as he leapt into the pool behind Navarog.

"Oh, give me a break," said Navarog, as he twisted his neck around just in time to see Warren stab his backside with Vasilis.

Navarog screamed in agony, dropping both Kendra and Vanessa, as Warren withdrew Vasilis from his body. Navarog countered the attack by slamming Warren out of the pool with his tail, before grabbing Kendra and flapping his wings.

"Gotta fly," said Navarog, as he clenched Kendra in his claws and leapt out of the pool. He shot one last barrage of fireballs at the deck below him, before taking off into the evening sky. Kendra screamed for help, but alas, no one was able to come to her rescue.

As Navarog soared high into the sky, Kendra briefly contemplated over shouting for help, but knew that it would yield no response at this point. She was far too weak to combat Navarog, and could not escape from him at this point.

"What's the matter?" asked Navarog stubbornly. "Miss me?"

"How could you? Just how? You can't do this!"

"Aw, shut up. I only need you for your power, you realize."

"You're a stingbulb! Seth would _never_ do this!"

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions, missy. I'm no stingbulb, I'm Seth and Navarog rolled into one."

"You've _possessed_ Seth?

"Yup. It sure is convenient having a shadow charmer in the neighborhood. If he wasn't one, I wouldn't be able to use his body as a host."

"What did you do to Seth?" demanded Kendra.

"He's perfectly fine. I have complete control over him."

"Seth!" shouted Kendra. "Answer me!"

"Kendra!" said Navarog in a much lighter voice, with a panicked expression on his face. "Navarog took control of me!" Please! Get help!"

"Seth?" gasped Kendra.

Navarog laughed in his true voice. "Ooh, save me Kendra!" he snorted. "You should've seen your face! I'm not stuck in Seth's body! Ever since I took it over, _he's_ been stuck in _mine_!"

"I thought you were dead! Raxtus killed you!"

"I'm a _demon_, remember? Snacking on one's body doesn't kill my kind. It merely renders us as a spirit. Only a proper slaying of my dragon form would've truly killed me."

"Why are you in Seth's body?" asked Kendra, her heart still pounding violently.

"I needed a host in order to interact with the physical world and Seth was the only shadow charmer I still knew. But I'm getting ahead of myself. After the _incident _at Wyrmroost, I retreated back to Living Mirage and consulted with the Sphinx for assistance. He possessed the ability to communicate with me, and considered using the Drakesoul to restore my body."

"So the Sphinx _was_ looking for the instruments of eternal power!"

"And a lot of help _he_ was! We could barely decipher that tome he had! We spent the better portion of the first half of this year just trying to translate that stupid thing! It was impossible! By the time he could start learning about the Drakesoul, he got sidetracked by the whole ordeal at Obsidian Waste and forgot about me."

"What did you do then?"

"I abandoned the Sphinx once the demons took over Living Mirage. Even they were of no help to me in my current state. I drifted the world until I wound up at Fablehaven, as if something was pulling me there. I was unable to enter the premises, until I noticed Seth entering the gate in a car one day. I could sense that he was a shadow charmer and could host my body, so I merged myself with him. My mind and soul overtook his. And being part Seth, I could enter the boundaries and go wherever Seth was permitted."

"So you've been in Seth for a while now?" asked Kendra.

"A couple of weeks. It was such a chore pretending to be that brat, but it beat being a wandering spirit. My only hope was that the Knights of the Dawn would go on an excursion at Living Mirage and bring back the tome for me. It took them long enough. And by the way, Kendra, thank you for translating that tome for me, it saved me a hassle!"

As he spoke, Navarog waved the copy of the notes that he had stolen from Warren.

"I got lucky that I was able to arrange my silly little vacation around your trip to Vertigo Volcano, but so what? I would've gotten the Drakesoul once you guys got back to Fablehaven anyway. In fact, many thanks for going into Vertigo Volcano and retrieving the Drakesoul! It saved me a trip! And now that I've got the Drakesoul, I was able to return to my proper dragon self, just as our little friend the Sphinx predicted."

"So everything that Seth has done since the moment you took over his body, was your doing?"

Navarog nodded. "Yup. It was all one big act. Just like I did with your _boyfriend_, Gavin! Only this time, I used a real life avatar! Had everyone fooled! I bet Seth is begging to get out of me! Too bad I won't let him."

Kendra was so angry, she felt as though she was going to explode. "You… MONSTER!" she growled, smacking Navarog's legs with her fists.

"Keep trying. Maybe someday you'll barely tickle me."

"So you got the Drakesoul. Fine! Just let Seth go! He didn't do anything to you!"

"I don't care about Seth, but I need his body. All the Drakesoul did was turn _Seth_ into a dragon. Possessing him merely made him assume my dragon form. If I were to leave Seth, or if Seth were to die, I'd be a wandering spirit. So there's no way that I'm giving up this precious shadow charmer body. Seth's soul even shielded me from Vasilis. Without him, it would've killed me upon contact, rather than mildly wound me."

"Okay, whatever!" exclaimed Kendra. "Just leave me out of this!"

"But I can't. Why should I stop with just the Drakesoul, when I could complete the set with the other four instruments and have my wishes granted? I could wish this world into one filled with demonic monsters. All you pathetic humans would endure endless torment, and I would be the king! Sounds like fun, and I'm already twenty-percent of the way there!"

"You can't!" yelled Kendra. "The wishes can't be used for malicious purposes!"

"So? I'll work around them. Maybe figure out some loopholes."

"I wish you'd disappear," muttered Kendra.

"Maybe I should go after the Disapirit first." suggested Navarog, squinting at the notes, trying to read them. "But I'm more interested in that Essence of Immortality. Anyway, maybe you could be a good little girl and rewrite these notes for me in a larger font?"

"Why not just turn back into Seth and read them from his perspective?"

"Oh no. I'm not falling for that. You might pull a fast one. Besides, I'd still have the Drakesoul in my stomach, and Seth's is too small to contain it without killing him.

"So, you want me to read all the notes and be your guide?" asked Kendra.

"I trust you about as far as I can throw… Oh, wait. You'll just give me false directions, won't you? You must think I'm pretty dumb. And not only that, but you're a perfect power supply for charging these ancient relics. Whether you like it or not, your touch energizes depowered magical relics. You're stuck with me."

"I give up," said Kendra hesitantly.

Navarog snorted. "Do I detect a hint of sarcasm? Well I don't care. If you won't read the pages, I know some friends of mine who will."

"Friends?" thought Kendra, trying to imagine what sort of bestial creatures would be friends with a demonic dragon before shuddering to herself.

They'll most certainly give me the right directions to the rest of the instruments, starting with that Essence of Immunity."

"Why do you want the Essence of Immunity so badly?" asked Kendra.

"Because I'll be unstoppable with it. Besides, the instruments' powers can't be used on one another, so I'd have no immediate use for the Accelerizer, Disapirit or the Sizeshifter on myself with the Drakesoul permanently in effect.

"When the other Knights of the Dawn hear about this-"

"Ooh, the Knights of the Dawn!" said Navarog sarcastically. "They're pathetic. I'd have gobbled them all up had there been no Vasilis. Speaking of which, I'm hungry!"

Navarog suddenly grabbed Kendra and lifted her upwards.

"No! Don't eat me!"

"I didn't kidnap you for a snack," said Navarog, holding Kendra so that he was staring her in the face. "I'm not in the mood for fine dining such as yourself. Fast food will do."

Still holding Kendra in his claw, Navarog flew down from the cliff until he found a young couple alone, sitting down on a boulder, staring at the sunset.

"Whoa!" said the man, pointing at Navarog. "Look at all those vultures! They're carrying that girl!"

"How'd they do that?" asked the woman.

"Run!" shouted Kendra. "This is a dragon! He'll kill you!"

"Oh, come on," said the man. "There's no dragon."

"Too bad they can't see me," said Navarog, as he grabbed the man with his other claw and dropped him into his mouth. As Navarog chewed, the man screamed for help, his voice muffled until he was dead and swallowed.

"Run!" blared Kendra to the woman.

"They killed Danny!" shrieked the woman, who could only see the vultures that were hiding Navarog. Before she could react, Navarog grabbed the woman and ate her as he did to her boyfriend.

Kendra was in tears. There was nothing she could've done to stop Navarog. She had been stuck in Navarog's grasp, unable to help the two innocent people that just became his dinner. She felt like throwing up at the mere sight of such an experience.

"Tasty," said Navarog. "I haven't been able to eat human in months!"

"You sicken me."

Ignoring Kendra, Navarog flew back up to the cliff top where he had originally landed, and settled down once more.

"Now listen to me," said Navarog. "I've had big day. I'm tired, and it's late. I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I hope to wake up with a fresh start.

Navarog got down on all fours, grabbed Kendra, and tucked her under his arm, as he closed his eyes and prepared to go to sleep.

"Let me go!" cried Kendra, squirming to escape from Navarog's tight grasp.

"Now, now. We wouldn't want you to run away, now, would we?"

"We're never going to get to sleep if we can't work out a better sleeping arrangement!" demanded Kendra.

"You're right," said Navarog, picking up Kendra and sliding her shirt through the branch of a nearby palm tree, until she appeared to be dangling from atop the tree by her shirt.

"Get me down from here!" shouted Kendra, as Navarog rested his body on the ground.

"Listen to me," said Navarog, curling his body and tail around the entire trunk of the palm tree. "I don't wanna hear a peep outta you. If you wake me up, I'll forget your practicality and have you for a midnight snack."

"But-"

"Sleep tight, Kendra. And don't let the dragon bite."


	8. Refuge

**Chapter 8 - Refuge**

Kendra breathed in and out quite heavily. Looking down below herself, she could see the slumbering dragon curled around the trunk of the tree that she was currently dangling from. Kendra was still hanging from a branch of the palm tree by her shirt, even though Navarog had placed her up there several hours ago and it was now the middle of the night.

Kendra felt that she had waited long enough, and figured that Navarog must have fallen sound asleep by now. Although there was barely any light at this hour, Kendra's ability to see in the dark proved to come in quite handy. Looking at her wristwatch, Kendra saw that it was after one o'clock.

Due to how the branch grew out of the tree, Kendra felt like it was impossible for her to wriggle herself free, even if it meant plunging to the ground, landing right next to Navarog and potentially awakening him. After hanging from the tree by her shirt for several hours, Kendra contemplated that waking up Navarog might actually be less painful.

Suddenly, Kendra remembered that she still had a dagger in her pants pocket, which she had brought along to Vertigo Volcano, even though she never had to use it. She quickly stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small, beige sheath with a black handle sticking out of it. Kendra quickly drew the handle from the sheath, revealing a blade no longer than a wallet.

Looking down at Navarog, Kendra feared that the dragon might able to hear he, so she opted to test and see if he was truly asleep, just to make sure he wouldn't wake up and catch her as she tried to escape.

"Navarog!" whispered Kendra. "Psst! Navarog!"

The large, black dragon did not respond.

"Navarog!" said Kendra in her normal voice, "Please let me down! I need to go to the bathroom badly!"

Kendra still got no response. Unless Navarog was pretending to be sleeping in an attempt to trick Kendra, then he really was fast asleep. Hoping that he was indeed sleeping, Kendra placed the sheath back into her pocket, before steadying her free hand on the branch above her. She then clenched the dagger above her head and used it to slice along the back of her shirt. Placing the handle of the dagger in her mouth, Kendra pulled the lower half of her shirt forward and then proceeded to cut through the rest of it.

Kendra placed her dagger back in her pocket, and pulled off her sliced shirt. She was now shirtless, wearing nothing but her brazier and dangling from the branch of the palm tree with one hand. However, she could at least escape from Navarog at this point.

Looking down, Kendra calculated that if she were to swing herself away from the tree, she might land too close to Navarog, or even on top of him. If she were to climb out further along the branch, it would be narrower, and might not even be able to support her weight. She looked around the area for another tree that she might be able to swing to, but none were close enough.

Kendra tossed her torn shirt onto a branch of the tree and retreated to the center against the trunk. Placing both hands around the trunk of the tree, Kendra inched her way downwards, where Navarog was sleeping. As dangerous as it seemed, Kendra figured that it may as well be the safest way down. Her only hope was that Navarog wouldn't wake up. She placed her trembling boot on the base of Navarog's tail, being as gentle as she could, praying that the contact wouldn't awaken him. She then placed her other foot down, and was now standing directly on top of Navarog.

Beneath her feet, Kendra could feel the dragon vibrate heavily as he snored loudly. She tiptoed softly across Navarog's tail and leapt off of it, finally able to place her feet on solid ground for once. Kendra was extremely fortunate. She figured that there had to be a downside to being highly resistant to pain!

Kendra looked back at Navarog's sleeping head, and noticed that he had placed a claw atop of the notes, which were lying on the ground. If she could escape with the notes before Navarog could share them with his friends, he might not be able to recover the other instruments so easily. The knights would have an advantage. However, Kendra was afraid that merely trying to retrieve the notes would awaken Navarog.

Kendra began to walk away from Navarog, going in the direction that his head was faced away from. She ventured through the jungle, figuring that any potential dangers she could run into were far safer than dealing with Navarog.

Immediately, Kendra reached into her other pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She immediately speed-dialed Tanu, but got a pre-recorded message saying that she was not in a service area. Worse still was that her battery was dying. Were the other knights even all right? Vanessa had been scorched, and Navarog had left them by attacking with several fireballs, although she didn't get to see the aftermath.

After walking for a fair while, Kendra eventually came across a highway. She decided to walk along it in the direction that she figured led back to town. However, she kept her distance from the curb, just in case Navarog woke up and assumed that she just might be following the highway back to town.

No vehicles drove past Kendra in either direction as she followed the highway back to town. Few people were out and about, giving Kendra weird looks as to why she wasn't wearing a top. She eventually had to stop and ask for directions back to the hotel. Admittedly, some of the people she ran into were slightly creepy, but they had nothing on many of the creatures she'd encountered over the years.

Kendra made her way back to the entrance of the hotel, which had been partially blocked off several emergency vehicles. As she walked up to the door, a policeman approached her.

"Evening, miss," said the policeman." "Have a nice stroll?"

"Please! I need to get back in!"

"What are you up to? What's with the lack of a shirt? It's not hot out tonight."

"I… I have a rash," said Kendra, directing the policeman to the red markings on her skin that she had received due to hanging from the tree.

"It's not safe for a young lady like you to be running around here alone at this hour with no shirt on!"

"I agree completely! But please, I need to get inside and meet up with my friends! I'm a guest here!"

"Well, in case you didn't know, there was a fire in the hotel earlier this evening. It's clear now. But you be careful, and stay away from the pool area."

"I will," said Kendra, as she made her way into the hotel. She went up to her floor and began banging heavily on the door to Tanu and Warren's room.

"Tanu! Warren! It's me! Please, let me in!"

There was no answer. Kendra then tried knocking on the door to Vanessa and Elise's room, but again got no response. She was exhausted. Kendra instead let herself into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. Too tired to panic any further, her eyelids slid shut, and soon she was fast asleep.

Kendra was woken up when somebody shook her body repeatedly. Opening her eyes, she could see that a strange man in a maroon uniform was responsible for doing so.

Her heart beating suddenly, Kendra jerked to the other side of her bed, nearly falling over. "Who are you?" she asked fearfully.

"I beg your pardon, but what are you doing here?"

Kendra looked around the room and could see sunlight pouring into the room between the window blinds. This _was_ her hotel room, wasn't it? It sure looked familiar.

"I'm a guest here. This is my room, 1206."

"The group in this room checked out last night just after the fire."

"Were they checked in under Tanugatoa Dufu? Where'd they go?"

"Why yes, but I have no idea where they went after checking out. The cleaning lady just came in here and saw you sleeping so she called me up."

"I've been separated from my group," said Kendra, sitting up to the bed's backboard. "Just let me get my things and call someone."

"It would seem that they took all their luggage," said man, pointing out that both her Seth's luggage had indeed been removed from a corner of the room where it had been sitting just yesterday.

"Oh. I see. Can I at least take a quick shower before I leave? I've had a hard night."

"Well, I suppose you can. But try to clear out soon; the cleaning crew needs to tidy this room up for later."

Still feeling groggy, Kendra got into the shower while the man left her to wash up. Kendra felt refreshed, but had no clean clothes, just her boots, cargo pants and brazier from before. Nevertheless, Kendra got dressed and headed downstairs to the lobby. She entered the gift shop, which had just opened for the day, and bought herself a white t-shirt with Hawaii written on it, accompanied by a picture of a balmy beach at sunset. It was slightly large on Kendra, but she didn't care. She paid for the shirt using a special credit card issued by the Knights of the Dawn. It was entrusted to Kendra under the circumstance that she would use it wisely.

Next, Kendra went into the hotel's dining room and ordered herself a large plate of flapjacks for breakfast. Afterwards, she attempted to turn on her cell phone while sitting on a bench in the lobby, but the battery had gone dead. It was quite unfortunate, as her contact numbers were stored on the phone, and her charger was with her luggage. She then noticed several payphones across the lobby, and dashed over to them.

Not knowing what else to do, Kendra called collect to phone home to Fablehaven.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson on the other end of the phone.

"Mom!" gasped Kendra.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm scared! Did the others tell you what happened?"

"Yes! They're all alright, but they had to leave the hotel incase Navarog returned! Hold on, Grandpa wants to speak with you!"

"Kendra," said Grandpa, having accepted the phone from Mrs. Sorenson. "Thank god you're all right."

"Where did everyone go?"

"They left the hotel just in case Navarog came back for them. They had no idea you'd make it back!"

"So where are they now?"

"Out looking for you! They checked into another hotel and spent the entire night searching as much of the island as they could! We haven't heard back from them since! I'll give you the address of the hotel they're now at. I'll also let them know you're safe as well. I'm very sorry about Seth. Hopefully we can find a solution to this soon."

After hearing Grandpa's directions, Kendra hung up the phone and dashed outside the hotel's front door to the sidewalk. She did not have a chance to write down the address that Grandpa had given her, and was repeating it to herself in her head to keep from forgetting it.

Kendra had to ask for directions to the hotel, which was fortunately only a few blocks away from the first one. Wasting no time, Kendra raced through the streets until she found the new hotel. Entering the front door, Kendra recalled Grandpa telling her that the knights had checked into the hotel under false names, but failed to tell her what they were. However, he did provide her with their room numbers.

Kendra went up to the seventh floor and down to room 720, where she knocked on the door. No one answered. "Hello? It's me, Kendra! Is anyone in there?"

She placed her ear against the door to try and hear if anyone was inside, but couldn't make anything out. Were they even there? Or were they still searching for her? Kendra banged on the door repeatedly with her fists, until it opened up.

Standing on the other side of the door was Vanessa, who was wearing a lavender nightgown and was startled to see Kendra. "Kendra! Are you okay?"

Kendra threw her arms around Vanessa and squeezed her tightly. "I'm fine! What about you? Navarog scorched you!"

"Nothing that Tanu's potions couldn't fix," noted Vanessa, patting Kendra on her back.

"How did you ever escape?" asked Elise, who seemed relieved to see Kendra safe and sound.

"I have so much I need to tell everyone! Where're Warren and Tanu?"

"In the adjoining room," answered Elise. "Let's see if they're up yet."

Elise walked over to the double doors that connected their room with a neighboring one and knocked several times. Tanu, who was wearing pajamas, answered it fairly quickly. "What's all the commotion?" he asked.

Elise directed Tanu to Kendra, causing his face to light up. "Warren! Come here! It's Kendra!"

Warren peered his face through the doorway, but appeared somewhat frazzled. "You are Kendra, right? Not an imposter?"

"Warren, of course it's me!" gasped Kendra, tears of joy slowly dripping from her eyes.

Warren walked over to Kendra, took a good look at her face and gave her a hug. "Yup, you're Kendra. No imposter could imitate you that perfectly! I can feel it."

Kendra sat down in a chair while Warren, Vanessa, Tanu and Elise gathered on the two beds. From there she relayed to them everything that had happened with Navarog and what he intended to do with the rest of the instruments.

"If Navarog still has those notes, he could potentially get a hold of more instruments," said Elise. "Especially if he recruits those so-called friends of his."

"I had the chance," said Kendra. "While I made my escape, I saw the notes in Navarog's claw. I thought about swiping them, but I was afraid that I'd wake him up and he'd attack me."

"While it would've been vastly beneficial to separate the notes from Navarog," commented Tanu, "it was better that you avoided the cheese in the mousetrap.

"What do we do about Navarog?" asked Kendra.

"We need to formulate a better plan," said Warren. "As we stand, we are in no position to deal with Navarog at this point. He's probably moved on by now, even without Kendra."

"How are we supposed to get the Drakesoul out of Navarog with killing him?" asked Vanessa. "If we used, say, Vasilis to cut Navarog open, we might kill him, along with Seth."

"As much as it pains me to think of the idea," began Tanu," we may have to slay both Navarog _and_ Seth in order to recover the Drakesoul."

"NO!" shrieked Kendra. "Please! Don't kill Seth!"

"It would only be as a last resort," said Tanu. "I don't want to hurt Seth any more than you do. But as it stands, he's a vital part of a dangerous monster.

"And where are we going to find Navarog, anyway?" asked Elise.

"He could be looking for his friends, whoever they are, or the Essence of Immunity," said Vanessa. "Since we don't know anything about his friends, the best we could do is try to beat him to the Essence of Immunity."

"Maybe," said Warren, "but now that Kendra's escaped knowing what he told her, Navarog might be expecting us. "Doing just that might be dangerous. Besides, we might be able to recover the Drakesoul safely if we had one of the other artifacts."

"Well," began Tanu, "assuming that Navarog is done here, we have no more business left to do in Hawaii. I propose that we head back to Fablehaven at once and formulate our next plan."


	9. Guardians

**Chapter 9 – Guardians**

Following Kendra's miraculous return to the group, the rest of the knights got dressed and ate a quick breakfast in the hotel's dining room. They then rode in two taxis back to the airport, where they were to catch a flight back to New York City.

The entire flight home was dreadful for everyone, especially Kendra. Her own brother was now nothing more than a pawn being utilized to power Navarog. Having asked for a window seat, Kendra spent a good portion of the trip staring out into the endless cloudbanks that occupied the sky. Her friends did what they could to comfort her, but even they were uncertain as to how they would deal with Seth and Navarog.

After what felt like an eternity, the plane landed in New York early in the morning the following day. From the airport, the knights rode a Greyhound bus to a small town not far from Fablehaven, where Mr. Sorenson agreed to pick them up from. When he arrived, he gave Kendra a strong hug, tears flooding his eyes.

Eventually, Mr. Sorenson drove the group to Fablehaven, making it back just in time for the sunrise. No one was overly tired, as they spent the majority of their trip either dozing off on the plane or bus. However, they all went back to bed for several hours, finally waking up in time for lunch.

Feeling fully refreshed, Kendra walked into the dining room and sat down at the table between her parents, who both gave her an assuring hug. Once everyone was seated, Grandpa tapped his glass with his spoon to earn everyone's attention.

"Thank you," he said, once everyone had stopped talking amongst themselves. "Now, as we all know, our own Seth is being possessed by Navarog. For how long did he say, Kendra?"

"A few weeks. I'm not sure how long exactly, though."

"I see. But Navarog is back, and he not only has Seth, but one of the instruments of eternal power, the Drakesoul. He's made his move, and he won't wait for us to make ours. We must plan our next mission immediately."

"This whole trip was futile," said Warren. "Even if Seth hadn't gone to Hawaii with us, he'd have gone for the Drakesoul eventually and revealed his true colors."

"Yes, but at least it didn't happen here at Fablehaven," said Grandma. "As a precaution, I've had to remove Seth's name from the register, just to ensure that Navarog can't fool the distracter spell with Seth's soul lurking within him."

"And had you never gone to Hawaii," began Grandpa, "we might've never learned that Navarog was controlling Seth in the first place. We _did_ learn the truth, but it came at a very steep price."

"There must be some way to disable the Drakesoul, right?" asked Kendra.

"I doubt it," said Grandpa. "From what we've learned about the instruments, it's that their magic is unmatched, rivaled only by each other. That is why one could not, for instance, use the Sizeshifter to shrink or enlarge another instrument, even though it would theoretically work on just about anything else.

"Maybe there's a way to extract Navarog from Seth?" suggested Kendra. "He's either a ghost or a spirit of some sort. Could we possibly exorcise him from Seth?"

"Who ya gonna call?" asked Warren. "Besides, even if we knew how to exorcise Navarog, we'd have no way to contain him. He's very powerful. He theoretically could go back into Seth at any time.

"Warren's right," said Tanu. "We'll need a better plan."

"Navarog claimed that he was going after the Essence of Immunity next," said Elise. "Perhaps it's best that we try and beat him there."

"It's quite risky," said Vanessa, "especially if Navarog already beats us to the punch. If we ran into Navarog out there, and he had the Essence of Immunity, we'd all be doomed."

"I have an idea," said Tanu. "While Navarog is going after the Essence of Immunity, we'll go after the Sizeshifter."

"Why the Sizeshifter?" asked Kendra.

"Think about it," said Tanu. "If we tracked Navarog down and waited for him to fall asleep, we could shrink down, enter his body and recover the Drakesoul. And if it's there, the Essence of Immunity too."

"And how can we ensure that Navarog won't wake up while we're inside of him?" asked Kendra.

"Vanessa and I can concoct a powerful sleeping potion that we can attempt to drug him with," answered Tanu. "It should be powerful to put even a gargantuan creature such as a dragon into a deep sleep. No one said this would be safe."

"Couldn't we just slip some ipecac into his food?" asked Warren. "Or a laxative? It'd save us a lot of hassle."

"Hold on," said Dale. "Aren't you likely to get spotted by Navarog should you get anywhere near him? We may not have dragons here on the preserve, but I know just how powerful their senses can be."

"It would help even further if we had the Disapirit in our possession," said Tanu, "but we might have to make do without it. Recovering it beforehand would take even longer. Whereas the sooner we can recover the Drakesoul, the sooner we can restore Seth and possibly find a way to deal with his problem."

"Hold on a second," said Kendra. "Even if we_ do_ retrieve the Sizeshifter, just how are we supposed to find Navarog?"

"We may have to use the Oculus," said Grandpa. "I will speak to Agad about our situation, and hopefully he will let us use it to search for Navarog. However, I have reason to believe that he'll forbid us from borrowing any of the other artifacts for this quest for security purposes. At least with the Oculus, it wouldn't have to leave Agad's possession."

"I suppose that getting a hold of the Sizeshifter first and foremost is the smartest solution," stated Elise. "At least with it we have a chance of actually recovering the Drakesoul."

"Then it's settled," said Tanu. "We'll go after the Sizeshifter as soon as possible."

"Agreed," said the rest of the knight in unison, sans Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson.

"Now hold on a second," said Grandma. "That unexpected run-in with Navarog almost cost you your lives, even with Vasilis at your disposal. This next outing could bombard you with even nastier surprises. It could be very dangerous."

"What are you trying to imply?" asked Kendra.

"What your grandmother is trying to say," remarked Grandpa, "is that we should seek further assistance before sending you out on this next adventure."

"You got anything in mind?" asked Warren, looking somewhat befuddled.

"I would like it if Kendra sought assistance from the Fairy Queen. She's the most viable and powerful partner we have while keeping this operation low-profile. I can't promise that she'll be of any use to us, but the least Kendra can do is appeal to her."

"I suppose," said Kendra, slouching down into her chair. "But I don't know. I can't just ask the fairies for help. They're rebuilding their kingdom now."

"This is urgent, and we should keep this whole operation as low profile as possible," said Grandpa. "They'll understand."

* * *

Soon the group had ventured through the preserve to where the naiad's pond was. Kendra and Warren had boarded a boat from within the boathouse and paddled over to the center island, while the others stayed behind on the boardwalk.

Kendra stepped out of the boat and gazed at the newly restored shrine situated in the center of the island; a large, silver statue of the Fairy Queen. Nervously, she slowly made her way over to the shrine, each step she took trembling with fear. What if the Fairy Queen couldn't offer assistance, or refused? This ordeal didn't concern the fairies or Fablehaven as a place.

Kendra placed her hands on the statue, and closed her eyes. "Fairy Queen. I need your assistance again."

Suddenly, a mysterious force of energy encased itself around Kendra. When it vanished, she appeared to be in a sunny meadow full of fairies floating around. Looking around at her surroundings, Kendra could see flower gardens, stone pathways, small creeks with bridges over them, and rainbows arcing across the sky in several directions.

"Welcome. Kendra," said a familiar voice. Kendra turned around and saw the Fairy Queen. Standing next to her was Bracken, who had greeted her.

"Hi!" said Kendra delightedly, as he gave Bracken a hug. "Nice to see you again!"

"Good afternoon, Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, standing before her. "What is troubling you?"

Well, it has to do with Navarog, and my brother."

Kendra relayed the whole story to the Fairy Queen and Bracken, both of whom were startled once she revealed the whole situation with Navarog showing up and having enslaved Seth.

"Now that I made it back to Fablehaven, Grandpa Sorenson asked me, to ask you, to help us! Is there anything you can do to assist us in this urgent mission?"

"Can you run that by me again?" asked Bracken. "You were looking for those power instrument things…"

"Instruments of eternal power," corrected Kendra.

"Yeah, those. And then Seth swiped the Drakesoul, revealed himself to be Navarog in disguise, and is now in pursuit of the other instruments?"

"Yes. Is there anything you fairies could do to help? Navarog almost destroyed us and if we're too aggressive against him, we risk killing Seth."

"I don't see how my kind could offer any assistance in recovering the Drakesoul," said the Fairy Queen. "The fear emitted by Navarog repels them. However, there may be situations in which their powers could prove beneficial in your quest to recover the other instruments."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Kendra.

"I am sending you back to your group," said the Fairy Queen. "Wait with them for now, I'll send the recruits along shortly." She then clapped her hands and Kendra appeared next to the shrine back in Fablehaven.

"How'd it go?" asked Warren, who was standing on the shore of the island. "The naiads took the boat as some kind of joke. I should've pulled it ashore instead of watching you."

Kendra looked out at the pond and could see the rowboat adrift in the center. "They said they'd help us, but this is just…"

Suddenly, a three-dimensional rainbow appeared over the pond, arcing several feet above the surface of the pond, as if it were a bridge. Kendra and Warren gazed at the glowing structure, as did everyone waiting by the boathouse.

"Whoa," gasped Kendra, her eyes bulging out. "We can walk on this?"

"Looks like it," said Warren placing his boot on the rainbow to test it. "It's solid."

Kendra and Warren walked onto the rainbow bridge and looked down through its lightly translucent floor. Beneath the surface of the water they could see Naiads looking out, somewhat peeved that the two of them were "cheating" their way across the pond.

"That was convenient," said Warren as they stepped off the bridge at the other side. "It sure beats the boat."

"Kendra, what happened?" asked Grandma.

"The Fairy Queen said she'd help us!" exclaimed Kendra.

"Anything besides the bridge?" asked Dale.

At that moment, a flash of light appeared at the shrine. The Fairy Queen and Bracken emerged from it, as did several smaller fairies. The Fairy Queen and Bracken walked across the rainbow bridge to the other side, while the other fairies flew behind them.

"Kendra Sorenson," said Bracken, "Warren Burgess. Tanugatoa Dufu, Vanessa Santoro. Elise Nelson. Please step forward."

The five knights all stepped forward and stood next to each other in a row.

"We are entrusting fairy guardians to each of you," said the Fairy Queen. "Should you get into a situation you can't seem to handle, call upon your guardian. Although their power is limited, they just might be able to lend you a hand. Working together, their power is stronger."

"Tanu," said Bracken, "your fairy guardian shall be... Tiara."

A fairy with long hair as orange as a pumpkin, an orange dress and even an orange aura flew up to Tanu and fluttered in front of his face. "Pleased to meet you!" she said in a shrill, but soothing voice. Tanu smiled at the fairy and held out his hand, which the she landed upon.

"Elise," began the Fairy Queen, "for your fairy, you will have… Geminus."

A second fairy, who was every bit as pink as the first one was orange, flew over to Elise and hovered in front of her face. "Hi!" she said cheerfully, whizzing around Elise's body several times.

"It's Vanessa's turn now," said Bracken. "Opal, come on down!"

A purple fairy flew over to Vanessa and nestled herself on Vanessa' shoulder. "How are ya?" said Opal in a naturally deep voice.

"As for you, Warren," said the Fairy Queen, "your fairy will be… Clover."

This time, a green fairy flew over to Warren and pecked him on the nose. "Hey there, sweetie!" she said, giggling in delight. Warren grinned.

"And for you Kendra," said Bracken, unable to resist a smile.

"Please say it's you!" said Kendra to herself, ignoring the fact that one fairy remained.

"As much as I would love to accompany you, I am too busy with restoring the Fairy Kingdom and not suited for this job. However, my youngest sister, Bright has graciously volunteered in my steed."

Although somewhat disappointed that Bracken would not be with them, Kendra watched as the final fairy flew towards her. Her smooth hair was full of streaks in all the colors of the rainbow, as were the seams of her dress. She glowed with a pure, white aura.

"How do you do, Kendra?" asked Bright. "Bracken has told me so much about you. It's an honor to finally meet you."

"Wow!" said Kendra, waving her hand nervously. Even though she was fairykind, it felt somewhat awkward to accept a fairy guardian like this.

"Now that you all have your guardians," stated the Fairy Queen, "Please understand that their purpose is to assist you. Their power is strong, yet limited, so let them rest until you really need their power.

"So are they going to follow us around everywhere?" asked Elise.

"Yes and no," said Bracken. "As guardians, they have been assigned to each of you. Although they will always be by your side, they will spend most of their time out of sight in pocket dimensions. However, they will appear if you call for them. Watch out for them and they will most certainly return the favor."

"I'm afraid that's all the assistance we can really offer," said the Fairy Queen. "Good luck with your mission!"

"Goodbye, Kendra," said Bracken, giving Kendra a hug. "And take care of Bright for me!"

"Boys," said Bright, as she sneered at her brother.

The Fairy Queen and Bracken bid farewell to everyone and retreated across the rainbow bridge to the fairy shrine, from which they transported themselves back to the Fairy Kingdom.

So now what do we do?" asked Kendra, watching their new allies flutter around.

"We must pursue the Sizeshifter as soon as possible," said Tanu. "It will be vital in our quest to recover the Drakesoul and stop Navarog."


	10. Cold Feet

**Chapter 10 – Cold Feet**

That afternoon, the group had made travel preparations to venture out to the next vault, and made sure to rest and recover from their previous adventure. Despite their loss of Seth, everyone tried to be optimistic, knowing that if they were successful in recovering the Sizeshifter, they just might be able to stop Navarog.

Grandma had prepared a large dinner for everyone. With some help from the brownies, she was able to get everything ready in time, although the summer sun had already set by the time everyone had sat down.

After dinner, Kendra went upstairs and into Seth's empty bedroom. Looking around, the place was quite tidy, as their mother had probably cleaned the place in their absence. The bed was made and no clothes were lying around or anything. Reminded of her brother's true nature, Kendra started to cry.

Kendra slammed the door to Seth's room and ran upstairs to her room in the attic. She dove face first into her pillow and let her tears pour out. It was too distressing knowing that Navarog was back, had taken control of Seth, and was in the midst of trying to take over the world.

"Excuse me," said a tiny voice. Kendra lifted her face from her pillow, looking somewhat startled. Turning her head to one side, she saw Bright standing before her on her night table. "Why are you so upset?"

"This whole ordeal with Seth and Navarog!" bawled Kendra. "It's not fair! It's my fault! I almost wish they'd never found that stupid tome!"

"Let me dry those tears," said Bright, pointing her index finger at Kendra's face. Magic sparkles shout from the tip of Bright's finger to Kendra's face, and suddenly, the tears were gone, leaving her cheeks completely dry.

"Whoa," said Kendra, who returned to crying. "That won't help. I'm sorry."

"Don't cry. Bracken told me great things about you. "He said that you're the bravest girl he's ever met!

"He did?" asked Kendra, wiping her tears with a tissue. "But I'm not all that scared. Just upset. Why did you dry my tears?"

"I serve to assist you. It's my duty. Besides, I care about you."

"Shouldn't I have to summon you first?"

"Normally, yes. But I could sense that you were in distress, and came to aid you."

"What can you do?"

"All sorts of things," answered Bright. "Watch this."

Bright waved her hand at Kendra's bedside lamp, showering it with sparkles. The white fixture suddenly turned from white to lavender.

"Oh,_ that's_ useful," muttered Kendra.

Humming to herself, Bright waved at the lamp a second time, causing it to float up into the air. It got stuck when Kendra and Bright realized that it was still plugged in, essentially tethered to the wall.

"Down," said Bright, waving downwards at the now lavender lamp. It slowly descended back down onto the table and landed in its original position.

"I guess that's a bit more useful," said Kendra, admiring the new color of her lamp.

"I can do lots of things. Just name it. But nothing too extravagant. Perhaps a summon?"

"Can you get me some chocolate? I've been craving it lately."

"Sure!" said Bright, waving her hands in front of Kendra. A flat piece of chocolate suddenly materialized in front of Kendra on her bed. Kendra picked up the chocolate, briefly examined it, and took a bite.

"It's good!" said Kendra, having swallowed her first bite. "Really good!" She then broke off a tiny piece and handed it to Bright, who accepted it.

"Kendra?" asked Bright, having swallowed down some chocolate. "Do you want to be friends?"

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra. "I thought we're supposed to be friends."

"Not entirely," replied Bright. "I am a Guardian Fairy. I've, like my fellow comrades, have sworn to assist you in times of need. We're not supposed to play around or anything."

"Well can we, or can't we?"

"I said not _supposed_ to play around," stated Bright suggestively. "As long as no one catches us goofing off, we should be fine."

Kendra rubbed her head. "As much as I'd love to chat with you, I really must get a good night's sleep. These past few days have been exhausting, and I need to be up early tomorrow."

"Understood!" said Bright. She fluttered up into the air and swooped down at Kendra. "Goodnight!" she shrieked, disappearing in a pop of magical sparkles right before she would've made impact with Kendra's body.

Kendra looked around the room, trying to compensate as to where Bright might've gone, until she remembered hearing that the Guardian Fairies dwelled primarily in the own pocket dimensions. Now alone again in the attic, Kendra turned off her redecorated lamp and let herself fall asleep.

That following morning, Mrs. Sorenson had woken Kendra up at twenty-to-six. Kendra waste no time in getting dressed into fresh clothes, eating breakfast, and pilling into Mr. Sorenson's SUV with her fellow knights like when they had gone to Hawaii. The only difference was that they were short by one person this time.

"I want a show of hands," asked Warren. "If you're actually a demon possessing someone, say "I".

"Warren," grumbled Vanessa, who elbowed him from her seat.

"Can I get a show of hands? Anyone?"

"Stop being so silly," muttered Elise.

"It's not silly," said Tanu, who was sitting in the passenger seat. "We really need to be on our guards this time. We already lost Seth and the Drakesoul, we can't afford to lose any more."

"At least someone agrees with me," said Warren with a smirk.

"Although if any of us _did_ have demons lurking within, our Fairy Guardians' magic would've sensed it and rejected us. They're hardly stupid."

"Are you confident that we stand a chance to recover the Sizeshifter?" asked Kendra.

"It seems like it'll be the least difficult of the remaining instruments to recover," said Tanu. "Even_ if _we didn't have to deal with Navarog. "I'm almost glad that we don't have to go after the Essence of Immunity should Navarog get a hold of it."

"Where is it, again?" asked Kendra.

The vault with the Essence of Immunity is underwater," replied Elise. "Torrential Tunnels. It's supposed to be completely flooded."

"Not that I'm looking forward to Frozen Fortress," noted Warren. It'll be chilly and slippery. I just know it."

"At least we don't risk running out of oxygen," said Vanessa, "not that freezing to death from hypothermia is much better.

At least we're not going after the Accelerizer," said Tanu. "The tome wasn't even clear as to where it actually was."

Eventually, they arrived at the airport. Mr. Sorenson helped with unloading everyone's luggage from his trunk, then wished them goodbye before driving off.

Frozen Fortress was located within the chilly mountains of Siberia. During her plane ride, Kendra mulled over where the instruments had all been hidden. The Drakesoul was inside a volcano. The Sizeshifter was atop an exceptionally cold mountain. The Essence of Immunity was under the Indian Ocean. The Disapirit was in the sky. None of which were places an average human would even stumble upon by accident.

As for the Accelerizer, its location didn't make much sense at all. The details of its location had been crossed out from the tome. An attached piece of paper simply stated that it had been relocated, and that further information to its new home could be found somewhere in the United Kingdom. Grandpa had concluded that it would take the longest time to recover the Accelerizer out of all the instruments.

After an exceptionally long plane ride, they landed in a rural airport somewhere in Siberia. Tanu had told Kendra the name of the place, but it quickly slipped from her mind, even when it was repeated. After claiming their luggage, everyone got bundled up in jackets, hats, hoods, gloves and snow goggles and and stepped outside, where a heavy snowstorm rained down on them the moment they opened the door.

Vanessa led them over to three snowmobiles that were parked underneath a small awning. They then loaded their luggage in the storage compartments, which were hidden under the seats, and were ready to take off. Kendra claimed a snowmobile with Warren as the driver, while Vanessa and Elise claimed another. The third was saved entirely for Tanu.

Warren, Vanessa and Tanu used the keys they had been issued when the snowmobiles were rented, and drove off away from the airport. The countryside they were in consisted of nothing but snowy hills and frosted evergreen trees.

Kendra held onto Warren's shoulders tightly as their snowmobile swerved up and down through the terrain. After driving for nearly an hour, Tanu directed the others to stop.

"We continue on foot from here," said Tanu, getting off his parked snowmobile. Kendra went along with the others and got up, retrieving her luggage from under the seat.

Looking around the area, Kendra could see a vast canyon ahead of them, not too far from where they had parked. To both their right and left sides, the group was surrounded by cliffs.

"The plan here is to have Kendra guide us to the entrance to the vault from here on in," said Tanu. For those of you who were there, it'll be similar to when Kendra guided us to Wyrmroost. These cliffs consist of narrow ledges and are quite steep. There's a very high chance of someone slipping and falling to their death, and that _without_ having to discern with a distractor spell."

Tanu tied one long rope around everyone's waste, making sure to put Kendra at one end, and himself at the other. The five of them were now tethered to one another by the rope, forming a small line of sorts.

"Remember," said Tanu, "don't trust your instincts here. The distractor spell is quite powerful. Warren and I have experience in this field, but even then it was quite brutal. It may not make much difference in this circumstance. A distractor spell isn't something one can build up an immunity to."

Elise handed Kendra a map that had been drawn up, along with some written directions. According to what she had discovered in the tome, this was seemingly the right path that would lead the group to the vault.

Kendra began by leading the group over to the edge of the gorge, and across a narrow path against the cliff side. As the path narrowed, Kendra sidled against the wall, encouraging the others to follow her lead. Looking downwards, Kendra could see that the drop to the bottom of the gorge was a good two-hundred feet. Even though she was attached to the others, she feared that if she fell, she might end up pulling them all down with her.

The path led into a small tunnel in the cliff side. Regardless of where it led, Kendra was just relieved to be away from the edge, as were the others. The dank tunnel wasn't very long, and it soon led them out to another ledge along the side of the cliff.

Before she could continue, Kendra felt herself being tugged back by the rope. "Kendra, no," said Warren, "It's too dangerous!"

"No, don't!" griped Kendra, sensing that the others were now being affected by the distractor spell. "It's the spell! We're getting closer!"

"We have to… fight it!" groaned Tanu, as he and the others closed their eyes and forced themselves to continue following Kendra's lead as she led them along the narrow ledge of the cliff.

"Is this safe?" asked Elise, holding her hands in front of her with her eyes closed. "I need to see that we're safe."

"Don't open your eyes," said Tanu. "Whatever you do. Kendra, describe our surroundings!"

"We're on a narrow ledge," said Kendra, examining the area. "Keep your hand on the wall and walk forward. I'll tell you if we need to turn or not."

After a few minutes, Kendra came across a wall at the edge of the ledge they were on, and came to a halt.

"Kendra, what's the matter?" asked Warren, his eyes still shut.

"We can't continue. There's a wall before me and it goes up to the top of the cliff."

"Can you peer around the side of the wall?" asked Vanessa.

"I'll try," replied Kendra, as she gripped onto the wall and gazed around it as best she could. "The path continues about twenty feet on the other side."

"How are we ever going to cross this?" asked Elise. "It's too dangerous to climb across the cliff with our eyes closed."

"Maybe we'll just have to risk it," said Vanessa.

"I've got an idea," said Tanu. "Tiara, I need you."

Although Kendra was the only one with her eyes open, she watched as orange sparkles appeared before Tanu, and Tiara materialized, now wearing an orange parka small enough to fit her diminutive body and wings.

"What is it Tanu?" asked Tiara. "Why are your eyes closed?

"There's a powerful distractor spell in the area. Do you feel affected by it?"

"No," said Tiara. "I can see that you're all lined up on some cliff ledge, with a wall in your way."

"Right," said Kendra. "If you survey the area, you'll see that the path continues on the other side of the wall."

"I see," replied Tiara, who was now hovering over the chasm. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Could you possibly get us across?" asked Tanu.

"I don't think I'm strong enough. "I could transport just you, perhaps, but not everyone. Why not summon the other fairies?"

The others nodded and called for their fairies to appear. After the situation was briefed to them, they all waved their hands at their corresponding allies and suddenly, everyone began to levitate a few feet into the air.

"Bring them around this way!" said Bright, as the fairies directed the group across the side of the cliff. Looking down, Kendra could see nothing below her feet, giving her the sense that she could fall at any moment. It was probably a blessing in disguise for the others to be holding their eyes shut the whole time.

A few seconds later, the fairies placed everyone down on the other side of the path and dispelled their enchantment. "That took a lot out of me," said Geminus, feeling somewhat exhausted.

"Me too," said Opal. Let's hope we don't have to do that again."

"The important thing is we made it," said Tiara. "It's best that we retreat for now and rest ourselves. Good luck!"

With that, the fairies all disappeared.

"I'm glad Stan recommended these guardians to us," said Warren. "We actually got ferried by fairies!"

"Ok, let's continue," said Kendra, leading the group further along the ledge, until they came to the end.

"Why'd you stop?" asked Elise.

"The path ends."

"Is there another wall?" asked Warren.

"No," said Kendra. "I don't think so.

"Check your directions," said Tanu.

Kendra went through her notes. "It just says to cross the bridge at the end of the path to reach the vault."

"Not very descriptive, is it," commented Warren.

"I _do_ see a cave entrance on the other side of the gorge," said Kendra. "But it's far too vast to cross, even with the fairies' help! And I don't see any way across."

"The notes mentioned a bridge," said Tanu.

"There's no stupid bridge!" snapped Kendra. "We're stuck!"

"Maybe the fairies could form a rainbow bridge for us?" asked Vanessa.

"They wouldn't have the strength," said Elise. "Especially with a powerful distractor spell in the area."

"Bright!" said Kendra. "Can you help me?"

"What's wrong?" asked Bright, who appeared before Kendra.

"See if there's a bridge, around here," said Kendra. "It should lead us to the other side of the gorge into that cave!"

"I hope there really _is_ a bridge," said Bright, staring across the gorge. "We're not getting you across that with magic!"

Bright flew off the edge of the path and over the gorge. She flew downwards and suddenly crashed in midair.

"Are you all right, Bright?" asked Kendra.

"I think I just found your bridge," said Bright. It's invisible!"

Kendra placed her foot over the side of the ledge, and could feel solid ground beneath it. If she followed it in a straight line, she should be able to reach the other side.

"Feels safe to walk on," said Kendra. "Everyone, follow me! The bridge is here, even though we can't see it."

"When your eyes are closed, everything is invisible," said Tanu, as he and the others followed Kendra across the invisible bridge to the cave on the other side.

"I think we're here," said Kendra, once everyone had stepped into the cave. "Open your eyes."

Upon hearing Kendra's command, everyone looked forward at the large, steel doors that stood before them. They had finally arrived at the entrance to Frozen Fortress.


	11. Frozen Fortress

**Chapter 11 – Frozen Fortress**

This was it. Having traversed the dangers of the frigid Siberian cliffs, the Knights of the Dawn had now arrived at the entrance to Frozen Fortress.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Warren, looking around at the others. "Let's press forward."

The front doors of the fortress were massive, probably thirty feet high. Although the doors lacked a lock, they were incredibly heavy due to their size. Working together, the team of five had to push against one of the doors in order to even open it a crack. Once the door was opened wide enough to slip through, the group made their way through it into the front hall of the vault.

Kendra observed her surroundings. The place was a humungous cavern, but it appeared that everything inside of it was frozen solid in a sheet of ice. The walls, floors and ceiling were all covered with a thick layer of translucent ice. Every last stalactite hanging down from the ceiling was frozen solid, to the point where one might mistake them for actual icicles.

Kendra took a few steps forward and slipped onto her back. "Are you all right?" asked Warren, who had bent down to help her stand up.

"Yeah," replied Kendra as she stood up and rubbed her rear end. "I didn't realize how slippery this ice could be. Guess I've been spoiled by the summer weather we've had."

"Where do we go from here?" asked Vanessa, who was surveying the area. "There's three different routes we can take."

"And only five of us," stated Tanu. "We _could_ split up into groups of two, with one person by themselves."

"Couldn't we work with our fairies? They double our numbers to ten."

"I don't think that'll work," answered Tanu. "The fairies still need to rest after helping us across the mountain."

"Well, does the tome offer any advice as to where we should go from here?" asked Elise.

"I'm afraid not," replied Tanu, going over his copy of Kendra's translated notes. "We have not been provided with directions to the exact resting spot of the Sizeshifter, not unlike the situation at Vertigo Volcano."

"Speaking of Vertigo Volcano," said Warren, rubbing his gloved hands together, "you got a heat potion we can drink?"

"Even better," said Tanu, as he reached into his bag and pulled out a thermos, which he handed to Warren. "Drink up."

Warren opened the lid of the thermos and sniffed the steaming liquid inside. "Hot cocoa?"

"No need for a potion here," said Tanu. "I filled up on hot cocoa at the airport. There's a thermos for everyone."

Everyone drank a sip of hot cocoa, which warmed up their chilled bodies. They then stored their thermoses in their own bags so they could save the rest for later.

"So," how will we get through this place?" asked Vanessa.

"I'll go alone," said Tanu. "Warren, you go with Kendra down the left path. Vanessa and Elise, you go right. I'll take the middle."

The three groups split up and ventured down their assigned paths. The path Warren and Kendra took was fairly straight, aside from mildly twisting and turning. After a few hundred feet, they came across a steep, iced incline.

"How do we get up this?" asked Kendra. Gazing at the incline, it appeared to go upwards at least thirty feet.

"Good question. We could try using picks to climb up the ice, but they might not work. We'd have nothing to support our feet, and this incline's quite high. I don't see how we could ever walk up such a slippery slope. It would help if we had Vertigo Volcano's crazy gravity on our side."

"Think maybe we should ask our fairies? Even if they don't have the ability to get us up the slope, they might be able to at least offer a suggestion."

"I guess it can't hurt," said Warren. "Clover, appear!"

In a puff of green sparkles, Clover appeared before Warren. Likewise, Kendra summoned Bright.

"How can we help?" asked Clover, looking up at the slope.

"Think you could fly us up there?" asked Warren.

"Not on your life! It's too steep and I haven't fully recovered from helping you across the mountain! And you, Bright?"

"Ditto!" replied the other fairy.

"Maybe we should turn back and try one of the other routes," said Kendra. "This one could've been an exit for all we know. I don't see how we'll move on with this ice in the way."

"That's it!" said Warren with a wide smile. "The ice won't be a problem if we eliminate it! Clover, can you shoot a flare at the incline? Somewhere near the bottom?"

"I guess," said Clover. "But you can't expect us to the melt all the ice!"

"Of course not," said Warren. "Just a little hole will do. "

"Here goes," said Clover, as she formed a small fireball in his hands. She then launched the fireball at the frozen incline, producing a small hole in the ice, large enough from someone to stick their hand or boot in.

"That's your plan?" asked Kendra.

"Part of it," said Warren. "If Clover and Bright can produce more holes like this up the slope in succession, we can use them as rungs and climb up."

"Like this?" asked Clover, as she shot a second flare at the incline. It was roughly one foot higher than the first and off to the side by one foot as well.

"Yeah! Keep it up!"

"We'll take turns," said Bright, shooting a flare two feet above the first one. The fairies alternated between shooting fireballs at the ice, until they had created a virtual ladder of sorts leading up to the top of the incline. Without any warning, the fairies flew back to Warren and Kendra and retreated to their pocket dimensions, both looking exhausted.

"Can we climb it?" asked Kendra.

Warren placed his gloved hands in two of the hole, then stuck his foot in one. "They're still damp from melting, but totally climbable. Let's go!"

Warren then continued up the incline, and Kendra followed his lead. Soon they made it to the top. At last they were on a level floor again.

"Clover, come back. I have something for you."

"What is it?" asked Clover once she made her entrance, looking quite fatigued.

"Drink up," said Warren offering her his thermos. Clover took a sip and smiled.

"Thank you, but I must rest," she said, returning to her dimension.

Following Warren's idea, Kendra offered Bright some of her hot cocoa. Bright too was also relieved to receive an offer, but also had to leave to recuperate. The two knights then continued across this next tunnel to what appeared to be a vast cavern. Looking down, there appeared to be no bottom in sight. There was a tunnel on the other side, and the only way across appeared to be large slabs of ice that were floating in midair.

"We gotta get across this now, too?" asked Kendra. "What if we slip and fall?"

"We die," replied Warren, leaping across to the first block of ice, which was floating in the air only a few feet from the entrance.

Keeping his body centered, Warren managed to keep from slipping off the edge of the block. "Just take it easy."

Kendra followed Warren's lead as they leapt from block to block. Fortunately, the blocks were quite large, each one roughly as long and wide as a pickup truck. In almost no time at all, the two of them safely made it to the other side.

"That was a lot easier than the slope," said Kendra.

"But a lot more dangerous," noted Warren. "Had we failed, it would've cost us our lives."

They continued down the next tunnel, which ultimately led them to what appeared to be the top of a slide.

"Is this safe?" asked Kendra.

"Couldn't tell you. But it's the only way to go and I personally would've liked to have slid down that incline we climbed. Mind you the waterslide in Vertigo Volcano led right to the instrument!"

"What if it's a trap?" asked Kendra. "Bright!"

"Yes, Kendra?" asked Bright as she reappeared.

"Can you fly down this slide and see where it leads?"

"Sure!" said Bright, as she flew off down the slide. Both Kendra and Warren watched as Bright flew down the slide and out of sight. They waited several minutes, only for Bright to return, looking quite exhausted.

"Have some more cocoa," said Kendra, offering her thermos to Bright.

"Couldn't find the bottom," gasped Bright. "Went very deep. I gave up."

Bright practically collapsed as she returned to her pocket dimension. "I hope this is safe," said Kendra, as she sat down on the top of the slide. "But I can't see this entire route being some kind of trap."

"Race ya!" said Warren, as he sat down next to Kendra. "Three, two, one, go!"

The two of them slid down the slide, Warren gaining more momentum than Kendra do to his larger physical size and greater mass. The slide twisted and turned, taking them deeper and deeper underground.

Kendra grinned. As dangerous as the slide could actually be, she was having fun sliding down it. Eventually, they reached the bottom, emerging in a vast, frozen chamber. When they reached the floor, Kendra and Warren slid along the ice until they reached the center of the room.

Warren got up and helped Kendra to her feet. "Good to be back on level ground again. Slippery ground, but it's level."

"What's that?" asked Kendra pointing to what appeared to be an elephant-sized corpse in a far corner of the room. She and Warren hustled over to the corpse, and quickly examined it. It was a griffin of sorts, with icy blue fur and feathers; only it was deceased, surrounded in a large puddle of its own blood.

"What happened?" asked Kendra.

"I'd say it was a guard of the vault," said Warren. "But I'm kinda relieved to see it dead. I wouldn't have enjoyed fighting it. What worries me, though, is that his blood isn't frozen. He appears to have been slayed very recently.

Kendra was overcome with fear. Had Navarog been here? "Warren, do you think Navarog could've done this?"

"Hard to say. Multiple paths lead into this room, so it wouldn't be impossible for one of the other groups to have done it. But to get here so quickly and defeat this griffin, it could mean…"

"I thought I heard voices!" growled an unknown, heavy voice."

Kendra and Warren both froze. Not from the temperate, but from fear. Looking at the main entrance at the far side of the room, they could see an enormous cross between a bat and a toad that was a solid green in color.

"You must be the Knights of the Dawn," said the creature, bouncing towards Kendra and Warren with his hind legs.

"How'd you hear us?" asked Warren.

"Us slorggs have sensitive hearing. Notice my bat-like ears. THEY'RE IN HERE!" he shouted back through where he came.

"Brace yourself," Warren said to Kendra, as he drew his sword, encouraging Kendra to do the same with Vasilis.

The slorgg stuck out his tongue, grabbed Warren's sword by the blade and whipped it out of his hand, before his tongue elasticated back into his mouth with the weapon.

"You like swords, huh?" asked Kendra with a sneer on her face. "Let's see how you like Vasilis!"

Before Kendra could step forward, a huge creature leapt out of the entrance, soared over the slorgg's head, and landed before Kendra. It was white, hefty, and could best be described as the reptilian equivalent of a bear. The creature roared viciously, and Kendra struck a blow at its chest with Vasilis.

The slorgg mumbled his words before spitting Warren's sword out of his mouth. "Do what you want with the guy, but don't hurt the girl. She might be Kendra!"

Another creature, which appeared to be a blue gargoyle with four, muscular arms, entered the room. In his two upper arms he was wielding swords. "Why are you fretting over _them_?" he asked.

"I think I liked it better before it was two versus three," said Warren to Kendra.

"Looking for this?" asked the gargoyle, as he helped up a large, orange jewel in one hand.

"The Sizeshifter!" gasped Kendra.

"I'm on it!" exclaimed Warren, as he charged at the gargoyle by surprise, ripped the Sizeshifter out of his hand, and scurried back to Kendra. Aside from its color, the Sizeshifter was identical in appearance to the Drakesoul.

The white creature roared and clawed towards Kendra and Warren, who quickly lunged out of its way.

"What do we do?" asked Kendra. "Vasilis barely fazed it!"

"It's not a demon, but it's highly tolerant of blunt weapons!" said Warren, as he and Kendra back further and further away from the monster, while trying to keep their footing on the ice.

"Want I should finish 'em off?" asked the slorgg.

"Let's see where this leads first," answered the gargoyle.

"I've got an idea," said Kendra, as she pulled off her glove and place her bare hand on the Sizeshifter. It immediately gave off a blistering, orange glow. "Shrink the monster!"

"Okay," said Warren, as he focused on the Sizeshfiter, as he and Kendra backed into a corner of the room. A bright orange flash encompassed both Warren and Kendra. Kendra's body felt odd, as the two of them started to shrink at an alarming rate, and the Sizeshifter slipped out of Warren's hands as their bodies grew smaller.

"Ha!" laughed the gargoyle. "This'll be fun!"

"Uh oh," said Warren, as he and Kendra, who were now the size of mice, looked up at the monster. The thing seemed big enough at their normal heights; now it was the size of Godzilla to them.

The monster bent down and readied to swipe his claw at Kendra and Warren, when suddenly he collapsed on the floor.

"Ikkim!" said Jark. "Get up!"

"Where are Warren and Kendra?" asked Vanessa, who was standing at another entrance to the room with Elise. In her hand was her dart gun.

"What'd you do to our friend here?" asked the Gargoyle, pointing at Ikkim.

"I knocked him out," said Vanessa. "Now where are the others?"

"Well, being the idiots they were, they shrunk themselves with the Sizeshifter! Then you knocked out Ikkim and it would appear that he collapsed on them."

"No," muttered Vanessa, as tears formed in her eyes, along with Elise's.

"The Sizeshifter!" gasped Elise, as she ran over to where Ikkim had fallen.

"Not so fast," said the gargoyle, as Jark stuck out his tongue, wrapped it around Elise's leg, and tripped her onto the ice. Meanwhile, the gargoyle pulled out a leather sack and walked over to where the Sizeshifter was lying.

Vanessa readied her dart gun, but before she could blow it at the gargoyle, Jark snatched it from her hand with his tongue.

"I'll just be taking that," said the gargoyle, as he reached down holding the sack in one of his lower hands. Using his other lower hand, he swept the Sizeshifter into the sack.

Elise had drawn her battle axe, and was trying to swing it at Jark, who in turn was trying to fend her off with his tongue. "You'll pay for this!" she snarled.

"Shrink these two, Raze!" shouted Jark, as he leapt away from Elise's swinging. He then spat a ball of acid from his mouth, which barely missed Elise and melted a section of the icy flooring that it hit.

"I don't know how this thing works!" exclaimed Raze. "We got what we came for, so let's beat it!"

"What about Kendra?" asked Jark.

"Too bad about her," replied Raze. "Navarog would've preferred her alive, but it's not really our fault she got bumped off. Let's not waste any more time with these girls and get outta here. Forget about Ikkim!"

"See ya, losers!" snorted Jark, as he and Raze flapped their wings and flew down through one of the tunnels.

Vanessa and Elise gazed down the tunnel that Raze and Jark had escaped through, fearing for their lives. It had all happened so fast. Kendra and Warren were gone, and now Navarog's henchman had made off with the recharged Sizeshifter.


	12. A Small Problem

**Chapter 12 – A Small Problem**

Kendra and Warren grasped each other's hands as they adjusted to their new surroundings. The two of them were confined to a small space, illuminated by the orange glow of the Sizeshifter. Due to the fact that they had shrunken in size, the Sizeshifter was much larger than they were. Kendra and Warren were actually inside of Raze's leather sack, unbeknownst to the four-armed gargoyle. As it was, Raze was currently towing the Sizeshifter out of Frozen Fortress, oblivious to the fact that he was taking two stowaways along with it.

"Was this your plan?" asked Kendra in a voice much higher than usual.

"I didn't know what else to do!" replied Warren in a similarly high-pitched voice. "Be grateful that Clover was able to teleport us into the bag at all!"

"When Raze find us, he'll kill us!"

"We'll make a break for it as soon as we can!" exclaimed Warren.

"On top of that, everyone thinks we're dead!"

"It was a last ditch plan! But at least those monsters think so as well! They'll never suspect that we're here!"

"They're going to take us straight to Navarog! He'll be a happy dragon to see us all wrapped up with the Sizeshifter!"

"Look, you're the one who suggested that we use the Sizeshifter to shrink Ikkim!" exclaimed Warren.

"And you're the one who stupidly shrunk us with it!"

"Sorry, but it didn't exactly come with an owner's manual!"

Kendra huffed. "So how do you suggest we get out of this situation alive?" asked Kendra. "We don't know how the Sizeshifter works and it we're not careful, we could shrink ourselves down even further!"

"We're not messing with this Sizeshifter until we're positive as to how it works. I'll go over these notes again just to be sure, but I'm still wary about testing it."

Warren pulled his copy of the notes out of his bag, both of which had been shrunken down with the rest of him. Likewise, Kendra did the same with her copy just in case she could offer any additional help in finding a clue. The ride was fairly windy, as the sack swayed back and forth at some rather extreme angles. From what the two of them could gather, Raze was now flying across the Siberian Mountains, and the sack he was carrying was being blown around by the wind.

After a fair bit of struggling against the windy conditions, Warren and Kendra could not make heads or tails of the Sizeshifter to comprehend as to how it worked.

"It doesn't really tell us anything that we don't already know," said Kendra.

"It could be a translation error of some sort," noted Warren. "Though the words appeared to be in English to your eyes, what you were reading was truly originally written in some ancient texts. Not only that, but the details in the tome are very vague. Probably to further prevent people from finding and using these instruments in the first place."

"But that doesn't help us," said Kendra. "From what I've gathered, it just says to hold the Sizeshifter against the desired target to either shrink or enlarge it."

"I guess we _were _the desired target," said Warren. "When we get out of here, I'll give it some more thought."

After what seemed like hours, the entire sack felt as though it had been smacked against something. Kendra, Warren and the Sizeshifter had all been jostled around the sack as though it had crashed on the ground somewhere.

"You okay?" asked Warren, as he helped Kendra out from under the Sizeshifter, the top of which had fallen on top of her. Thankfully, she wasn't in any real pain.

"Yeah," said Kendra, as she stood up. "Guess we've landed. Where are we?"

Warren shrugged. "Beats me," he whispered. "But keep it down. Now that we're not in the air, the monsters might hear us. Jark especially. We should lay low."

"Hey, Raze!" came Jark's voice from outside the sack, "I wanna look at the Sizeshifter!"

Upon hearing Jark, Kendra and Warren's hearts momentarily stopped.

"Forget it!" responded Raze. "We don't know how it works! Remember how those stupid humans shrunk themselves cuz they didn't know what they were doing? That could happen to us, and I don't know how it works any more than they do!"

"I just want a peek! Before we hand it over to Navarog!"

"Fine!" whined Raze. "But if you screw up and shrink yourself, I'm not helping you!"

"What do we do?" asked Kendra, as she and Warren could sense gigantic footsteps approaching the sack.

"I dunno! Summon Bright and just do something!"

"Bright!" shrieked Kendra, as the rainbow-colored fairy appeared before them.

"What happened to you two?" asked Bright, who was practically twice their size.

"I think I heard something from inside the bag!" said Jark, as the bag was suddenly hoisted into the air.

"Make us invisible and disappear!" said Kendra, just as the top of the sack was opened. Raze and Jark peered inside, but could not see anything other than the Sizeshifter. Raze reached inside the sack, barely missing Kendra with his scaly hand, and pulled out the instrument.

"Here, but don't play with it!" said Raze, as he placed the bag down. As it hit the ground, he sensed that something was still inside of it. He gazed down into the bag, staring directly at both Kendra and Warren, despite the fact that they were invisible to him. "I need a break."

Although they could not see each other, Warren and Kendra stared into each other's eyes. Had the two monsters been more thorough, they would've spotted the two unwanted tag-alongs. After about a minute, Bright's power wore off, causing Kendra and Warren to both reappear. To make things worse, the top of the sack was opened up, and Raze carefully placed the Sizeshifter back inside, although he failed to notice Kendra and Warren.

"There, you got to see it," said Raze. "Now let's go hunt some grub and get some rest."

Kendra and Warren stayed inside the sack as Raze carried it with him and flew off with Jark. The ride was similar to the first one, only it was far shorter. Along the way, they could hear goats squeal and people screaming. Kendra and Warren could only imagine that the two monsters were hunting down innocent bodies and devouring them for their meal. After a few minutes, they landed.

For the next few hours, Kendra and Warren laid low inside the sack. As the sack was on the ground, the Sizeshifter was lying on its side, causing the neck of the sack to be to the side as well. Warren ventured out of the sack, followed by Kendra, to examine their surroundings.

From what they could gather, they were on a plateau, somewhere in the mountains. As it was night, only Kendra could see properly, as Warren lacked her ability to see in the dark.

"Do you see Raze and Jark?" asked Warren in a whisper.

"Yeah," whispered Kendra. "They're sound asleep."

"Good. Let's get back in the sack."

"Clover, I need you, but keep quiet!"

Clover appeared before Warren and Kendra, greeting them with a wave, rather than speaking.

"What's your plan?" asked Kendra.

"You'll see. Clover, we need you to levitate this entire sack away from Raze and Jark."

"Now that I can do," she said. "Now that you're much smaller, it'll take less power!"

Clover stepped out of the sack and encased it in her own magic. It suddenly began to levitate into the air and eventually landed elsewhere.

"I hid the sack behind some boulders for now," said Clover, as she climbed back into the sack. I can't carry this whole thing for too long or I'll exhaust my powers again."

"We need to get this Sizeshifter to a safe place!" said Warren, no longer whispering.

"Us as well," said Kendra. "Maybe then we can figure out how to get back to our normal sizes."

"Think you could make us grow?" asked Warren.

"It'd be very temporary," replied Clover. "Besides, if you're bound to this size by the Sizeshifter's magic, my powers to counter it would pale in comparison. I'd rather not waste my magic just to find out that I can't do such a thing."

Kendra observed Clover. Up close, she looked a lot like a normal human, aside from her green hair, makeup and translucent wings. Her cheeky face appeared to be quite pretty. She wondered if Warren thought she was attractive.

"You think that you and Bright might be able to just carry the Sizeshifter by just flying?" asked Warren.

Clover placed her hands against the Sizeshifter, unable to push it. "I can barely move it with my own strength. Either you make yourselves big again, or this Sizeshifter isn't going far."

"I've got a question, Clover," asked Kendra. "When you go into your pocket dimension, where does it lead?"

"Nowhere special. Just a small, private void the size of a breadbox.

"Can you take other things with you?"

"It depends. What'd you have in mind?" asked Clover. Kendra responded by tapping the side of the Sizeshifter.

"It might work," said Clover, as she placed her hands on the Sizeshifter. "It's kinda big, but it should work!"

Clover vanished in a puff of green sparkles, as did the Sizeshifter. A moment later, she reappeared without the jewel.

"Awesome!" laughed Warren. "They'll never find it in there!"

"Think you could hide us in there if the need came up?" asked Kendra.

"No way!" exclaimed Warren. "I'm not going into a pocket dimension like that against my own will!"

"Relax," said Clover. "Even if I wanted to, I'm forbidden from bringing other beings into my dimension. "What are you worried about, anyway?"

"I once spent three months trapped inside of a sub-dimensional storage compartment. It wasn't very comforting to say the least."

"That's awful!"

"Yeah, and you can thank our_ friend_ Navarog for trapping me there. The sooner we stop him, the better."

"Let's just deal with the problem we're facing now," said Kendra. "Bright, appear!"

Kendra's fairy appeared next to Clover. She too dwarfed Kendra and Warren at their reduced heights.

"You rang?" asked Bright.

"Hey!" shouted Jark from a distance. "The Sizeshifter! It's gone!"

Kendra felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. Sure, Jark and Raze had no idea as to where the Sizeshifter could ever be, but she got the idea that Jark would instinctively know where to find them.

"Don't make a sound," whispered Warren. "Slorggs have incredible hearing."

Kendra, Warren, Bright and Clover all pressed against the boulder that was concealing them from the rest of the world, and listened in on Jark's ranting.

"Wake up, Raze!" said Jark. Kendra envisioned the slorgg tapping Raze using nothing but his enormous tongue.

"Whaaaaat?" grumbled Raze tiredly.

"The Sizeshifter is missing!"

"Missing?" asked Raze. Kendra imagined Raze getting up and scrambling to look for his sack, only to find nothing. "Where'd it go?"

"Those other knights must've followed us and swiped it! We should've finished 'em off instead of fleeing back at Frozen Fortress!"

"We _had_ what we came for," snuffed Raze. "I didn't want to risk fighting with them. Had we stayed, it would've given them a chance to swipe the Sizeshifter from me. I didn't think anyone would track us down so easily."

"Well, what do we do now? We can't tell Navarog about this! He'll get angry! I don't like him when he's angry!"

"We can't tell him it was stolen," said Raze. "If anyone pushes Navarog too far, he'll rip out their bones and use them as toothpicks. And that's if he _likes_ you. I know! We'll tell him that we went to Frozen Fortress, went all the way to the end, but the Sizeshifter wasn't there! We just concluded that the Knights of the Dawn beat us! Sure, he'll be mad, but at least he won't kill us!"

"What do we tell him about Ikkim?"

"Say he ran off or something! Anything to keep him from knowing about what really happened! Of course, if we tell him that Kendra and that other guy died, he'll know that we _did_ run into the Knights of the Dawn, and complain that we didn't succeed in stealing the Sizeshifter from them!"

"Either way, Navarog's not gonna be pleased when we tell him that the Knights have the Sizeshifter!"

"It's your fault," said Raze. "We _had_ the Sizeshifter. "You're the one with the so-called _excellent hearing_. If someone came by and swiped it, why didn't you hear them?"

"Maybe they were really quiet!" exclaimed Jark. "It doesn't help that you snore!"

"Oh yeah, blame it on something I can't control!"

"Why didn't Jark hear us ?" asked Kendra to her friends. "We had to have been making_ some _noise.

"Our voices are very tiny," said Warren. "And we've been whispering! Plus Clover used magic to move the bag, so that didn't make any noise either."

"But without all five instruments of eternal power, Navarog can't have his wishes granted!" continued Jark from afar.

"Serves him right! Remember how he told us about being that Seth kid and snatching the Drakesoul? If he was patient, he could've waited until the knights found all five instruments before claiming them for himself! "

"Let's just get back to Navarog," said Jark suggestively. "Maybe he'll buy your story that the Knights beat us to the punch, and that we did nothing wrong, therefore he'll have no reason to blame us for anything."

"You're right. I can't sleep after all this. Let's just go meet up with Navarog. If we're lucky, he'll have found the Essence of Immunity by now. That's the instrument he wanted the most anyway. He'll be in such a good mood that he might even go easy on us!"

"That's assuming he_ did_ get the Essence of Immunity."

Kendra, Warren, and their fairies listened as Raze and Jark flapped their wings and ultimately took off. Peering around from behind the boulder, they watched as the two monsters flew off into the dark, night sky, until they were out of sight.

At long last, Raze and Jark were gone. But Kendra and Warren were still faced with several problems. They were tiny, they didn't know where they were, and they had no idea as to how they would get home.


	13. Winging It

**Chapter 13 – Winging It**

Kendra and Warren had scoped out the landscape. Thanks to their reduced sizes, the already vast terrain seemed enormous to them. They still had no idea as they how they would ever get back to safety.

"Could you fairies possibly fly us out of here?" asked Warren to Bright and Clover.

"I doubt it," said Clover. "We don't have much muscular strength, and even though you're only half our height, we'd still tire after not too long."

"And we don't want to risk using the Sizeshifter," added Kendra. "But we really have no clue as to how to operate it. Maybe you could send out a distress signal?"

"It'd never reach anyone," remarked Bright.

"Hey, Bright," exclaimed Warren. "You're the Fairy Queen's daughter?"

"Of course I am," stated Bright proudly. "What are you getting at?"

"And therefore you're Bracken's sister."

"Go on."

"Well," began Warren. "The Fairy Queen and Bracken are human-sized, and are part unicorn, are they not?"

"How would that help us?" asked Bright.

"Just turn yourself into a unicorn!" exclaimed Warren. "You could transport us easily if you did that!"

Bright snorted. "Sorry, but I gave up many of my abilities when I chose to become a fairy guardian."

"What?" asked Kendra, whose heart nearly stopped, as did Warren's.

"Sorry," said Bright. "But it's a standard procedure. A fairy would be deemed too powerful if she retained her full powers_ and _was chosen to become a fairy guardian. So to answer your question, I cannot transform into my unicorn form at will. It would take more magic than Clover and I have combined to pull that off."

"Is it possible that you could maybe use your magic to levitate us again?" asked Kendra. "We're smaller now, so it should require less magic than when we were full size."

"Yes," replied Clover, "but an enchantment is still an enchantment, and like all enchantments, it will wear off sooner or later."

"Like when I made you invisible when you two were inside of that sack," noted Bright. "Sure, I'm only supposed to assist Kendra and working my magic on Warren as well only helped drain it faster, but it can still be done. It just limits me more so."

"Why is your power so limited?" asked Kendra. "Nothing personal."

"In our current, small forms, we fairies are limited in magic," answered Bright. "Even a Fairy Princess such as me has limitations."

"Even though we're fairy guardians," continued Clover, "it's not our responsibility to do someone else's job. However, if we successfully fulfil our mission, we are bestowed with incredible powers and become Fairy Angels. It's almost like a rite of passage for fairies. However, not many fairies get the honor of getting to become a guardian in the first place."

"Then why not send Fairy Angel s to help us?" asked Kendra.

"Different fields of duty," answered Bright. "My three older sisters are all Fairy Angels, but they'd never be assigned to helping people like this, no matter how practical their powers would be."

"How practical are your powers, then?" asked Kendra.

"Well, enchanting you two is out of the question," answered Clover. "It'll wear off far too quickly."

"But an alteration hex might work," noted Bright. "Hexes don't wear off on their own."

"Alteration?" asked Kendra. "What do you mean?"

"Well," began Clover. "You humans can't fly on your own. At least not without some kind of external help. To make you fly would require an enchantment of some sort. But a bird can fly all it wants without magic because it has its own solution."

"What Clover is saying," noted Bright, "is that by turning you into birds with a hex, you'll be able to fly all you want."

"Can you do that?" asked Warren.

"Perhaps," said Clover. "Thing is, you two are bound by the Sizeshifter's magic. The good news is that you're small, so it wouldn't take too much of our own powers to override it. It might be possible, but I think we'd only be able to transform one of you into a full-sized bird."

"Then I'll volunteer," stated Warren, holding up his hand. "Kendra might be able to make better use of her fairykind powers if she stays a human."

"It could be risky," said Bright. "You sure you want to do this?"

"I have to," said Warren. "We're not going to get home any sooner if we walk."

"Okay then," said Bright, as she walked around and stood in front of Warren, while Clover stood behind him. "Warren, just hold still."

Warren took off his bag, stood in one spot, and looked around hastily without moving his head. Suddenly, he watched as Bright shot a blast of rainbow-colored sparkles at him.

Kendra watched too, and was also able to see Clover doing the same with all-green sparkles. The sparkles surrounded Warren's entire body, until there he was surrounded by a large cloud of colourful smoke. After a few seconds, the two fairies ceased their magic, and the cloud disappeared. Standing in Warren's place was a full-sized peregrine falcon.

"It worked!" gasped Bright, who looked as if she was going to collapse.

"Warren?" asked Kendra, as she stood in front of the intimidating bird that had appeared where Warren had been standing. Even though the bird was at a normal height, it towered over Kendra's diminutive size.

"We must rest," said Clover faintly. "That took every last ounce of magic we had." She then retreated in a cloud of sparkles along with Bright.

The falcon looked down at Kendra and let out a squawk, startling both itself and Kendra. Kendra involuntarily shrieked in response. "Warren?" she asked worriedly, afraid that the bird wasn't truly her cousin. The falcon opened his beak and made a wheezing-like noise, then stopped. He looked down at Kendra and slowly nodded.

"You're still you, right?"

Warren nodded a second time.

"I should've figured you can't talk. You were turned into a typical falcon, and falcons don't talk. Maybe the fairies should've turned you into a parrot instead."

Warren rolled his eyes, then flapped his wings for a second. He then tapped his back with his wing feathers and bent down, prompting for Kendra to climb onto his back. Kendra picked up Warren's dropped bag, then stepped over to his side and grabbed a hold of his smooth, silky feathers, before hoisting herself onto his back. She then positioned herself on his back, as if she were riding a horse, and held onto Warren's neck feathers.

"I don't know where we should even go," said Kendra, "so you might as well take off and see what we can find."

Warren looked back at Kendra and nodded, before flapping his wings repeatedly and leaping into the air. Almost instinctively, Warren flew up into the air, until they were a good several hundred feet above ground.

Kendra looked around in awe. Below them were mountainous hills, valleys and canyons. They were an amazing sight, but nothing that she and Warren could ever hope to traverse on foot, even at their normal heights.

Even though Kendra could see in the darkness, she could tell that it was late at night, wherever on the planet they supposedly were. Being a bird, Warren presumably had enhanced vision of some sort, but probably couldn't see as clearly as Kendra could.

Warren pressed onwards for several hours and an indeterminable number of miles, but he was finally too tired to continue flying. On top of that, the clouds that lurked overhead had darkened severely. He eventually soared downwards, until he came to a small clearing with several trees.

"Thank you, Warren," said Kendra, as she climbed off the falcon's back. Warren responded by gently patting her back with his wing. "I'll set up my tent here."

As Kendra drew a fold-up tent from her bag, rain began to fall from the sky. Due to her reduced size, each drop felt far more powerful than it normally would have been. They reminded her of the time several summers ago when Seth and his friends had pelted her with water balloons. Only this time, there was an endless amount of balloons instead of the package of twenty Seth had bought.

Fortunately, the tent was very easy to set up, and within mere seconds, it was fully ready near the base of a tree. Kendra climbed inside, glad to be out of the rain, and basked in the tent's shelter. She then turned to the zippered door and stuck her head out in the rain. "Come on in, Warren!"

Warren waddled over to the tent and stuck his head in. As the tent had shrunken along with Kendra, it was far too small for Warren to fit inside of. He looked around inside the tent, shook his head, and pulled it out.

"Warren!" gasped Kendra. "I'm sorry. Can you find shelter anywhere?"

Warren looked up at the branches of the trees, but could tell that they wouldn't make a sufficient shelter for him. He opted to rest in the hole at the base of a small tree, but it barely had any room for him, and rain was splashing inside. The rain was growing fiercer and fiercer, and thunder was roaring in the sky.

Kendra looked through both her own and Warren's belongings. Between the two of them, they had some spare clothes and their own sleeping bags, but nothing to cover Warren's entire body with.

"Bright!" shouted Kendra urgently. "Clover! I need you both!"

Bright and Clover both appeared inside the tent next to Kendra, looking somewhat puzzled.

"What's wrong, Kendra?" asked Bright.

"It's Warren," said Kendra, "Look outside."

The two fairies peered outside the tent, and saw that Warren was using his wings to try and shelter himself from the rain, but was having no success. "Can you help him?" asked Kendra, as the two fairies caught his attention.

"We could," said Bright. "We_ are _fully recharged now."

"We could turn him back into a human for now," said Clover, as she stepped out into the rain. "Sound good to you, Warren?"

Warren glared at Clover, shook his head, and continued to shelter himself from the downpour.

"Warren," said Kendra. "You're soaked! Let the fairies help you."

Warren held up his wings and shook his head a second time.

"What's wrong?" Kendra asked Bright and Clover.

"I get the feeling that Warren doesn't want us to waste our magic on helping him," answered Bright. "Is that right, Warren?"

Warren nodded.

"We might need it in an emergency," said Clover.

"Maybe you two should just go, then," said Kendra.

"Understood," said Bright, as she and Clover vanished.

Kendra then ran out into the rain, across the thick grass and entered the hole in the tree, where she placed her arms around Warren's neck. "Are you going to be all right?" asked Kendra. "I'd shelter you, but I have nothing to offer."

Warren nodded.

"Okay then," said Kendra, as she ran back into the tent. She unfolded her sleeping bag and crawled inside. She felt so cozy, that she could barely even notice the storm going on outside. But as comfortable as she was, Kendra was not satisfied.

Kendra slipped out of her sleeping bag and once again ran outside to where Warren was nestled. Warren looked befuddled as Kendra entered the hole, curled up by his neck and rested against his wing. Kendra could sense that Warren wanted to know why she wasn't taking shelter in the tent.

"It's okay, Warren. I don't deserve the tent. Not if you're unable to take refuge in it as well. If you're going to put up with the rain, I will _not_ let you do it alone!

Warren lifted up his wing and pointed it at the tent, indicating that he wanted Kendra to return, followed by a brief squawk.

"No," said Kendra. "I'm not budging!"

There was a pause. Warren stared out into the stormy clearing for several long seconds, and then looked back down at Kendra. He gazed into her eyes for a few seconds, and gently wrapped his wing around Kendra's body.

"Thank you, Warren," said Kendra, looking up at her cousin. Even though he was currently a bird, Kendra could read Warren's face perfectly. If he had lips, he'd be smiling. However, he was still getting soaked due to the rain.

Suddenly, Bright and Clover appeared inside the tree together, despite the fact that they had not been summoned. Without saying a word, the two fairies flew over to Warren's side, and curled up next to Kendra.

"Wait!" asked Kendra. "What are you two doing here?"

"You gave up your shelter to be with Warren," said Bright. "It's against fairy regulations to do this sort of thing, but we just don't care! Warren is forgoing our assistance to ration our magic for when we may really need it."

"The least we can do is help him, even if we're not using magic," said Clover. "I _am_ his guardian."

"And what does_ that_ make _me_?" asked Bright. "I care about Warren too! I don't care if he's _your_ duty!

"I care about Kendra too," said Clover.

"She's fairykind!" exclaimed Bright. "Of course you care about her!"

"I mean as a friend!" snapped Clover. "We're only on this mission to serve as Fairy Guardians!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Kendra.

"As Fairy Guardians, we're not supposed to befriend our fellow humans," said Bright. "Or falcons. Sure, we're obliged to be friendly and follow your orders, but we were asked not to form any true friendships."

"Why's that?" asked Kendra.

"Well, if we become Fairy Angels, we'll never get to see you guys again," said Clover. "And, well, I kinda like you two. Kendra I can understand, but Warren?"

Warren let out a shrill caw, and turned his neck to face the fairies and Kendra.

"Nothing personal," said Bright. "But our friendship isn't natural. But I'm not complaining. I'm happy to have friends like you two."

"Ditto," said Clover.

"You said if you become Fairy Angels, you'll never get to see us again," stated Kendra. "Why?"

"Different responsibilities," answered Bright. "We're assigned to assist humans, but we naturally aren't attracted to them. That way, when our job is complete, we won't miss them very much. But this is a different state of affairs."

"Either we help you on your quest and become Fairy Angels, or we stay with you indefinitely," said Clover. "It's a win-win situation!"

Despite the heavy rain that was going on outside, the four heroes all managed to fall asleep relatively quickly.

When they awoke, the sky had cleared, and the sun was shining across the land. The fairies used magic to summon a cooked sausage, which Warren and Kendra shared, before returning to their pocket dimensions, and Warren soon took off with Kendra in tow.

After flying for a while longer, Warren and Kendra spotted a 747 flying across the sky. Warren instinctively pursued the jet until it led him to the airport of a vast city.

"Where are we?" asked Kendra, looking at her surroundings. "I can't read these Asian writings, but I'd say we're in China!"

Warren tapped Kendra with his wing and pointed his other wing at a large sign in the distance that was written in English.

"Beijing?" asked Kendra, reading the sing aloud. "But how do we get home from here?"

Warren responded by grabbing Kendra's shirt in his mouth and picking her up, then placing her on his back. He flew around the airport's many runways until he discovered a taxiing plane belonging to an American airline.

"I get it!" said Kendra . "We'll hitch a ride back to America on this plane!"

Warren looked back at Kendra and nodded, before flying up and into the open compartment of the plane's landing gear.


	14. Homecoming

**Chapter 14 – Homecoming**

Warren nestled himself atop a small platform within the compartment of the plane's landing gear, and remained stationary as the plane taxied around the airport. Situated on Warren's back, Kendra peered down the open compartment of the landing gear and could see the tarmac drifting by beneath them.

Although it didn't appear to be going very fast, the speed of the plane kept increasing. Kendra watched as the landing gear began to rise above the runway, along with the rest of the plane, which had ultimately taken off and was ascending into the air. Looking downwards, Kendra and Warren gazed at the view of the airport getting smaller, until the landing gear automatically retreated back into its compartment and the hatch closed.

From where they were perched, Warren and Kendra were safe from being squashed by the landing gear as it folded up within the compartment. Warren looked confused, turning his head back and forth while squawking.

"Warren," asked Kendra, "what's… Oh, right, it's too dark for you!"

Kendra reached into Warren's bag and withdrew an electric lantern, which was switched on, illuminating their area of the landing gear compartment. With the area lit up, Warren let out a relieved caw.

No matter how they looked at it, the ride back to the States was going to be incredibly long and boring. Problem was, there was no real way for them to pass the time. They were trapped inside a small compartment on an airplane that was not designed for any passengers.

Kendra couldn't talk to Warren as long as he was a falcon, giving them little to do in order to pass the time. Taking a nap would at least pass some time, but the plane made a loud humming noise that was impossible to ignore, so neither of them would have an easy time falling asleep.

Fresh out of ideas, Kendra called for Bright and Clover to appear.

"WHERE ARE WE?" asked Bright, trying to blank out the noise of the airplane from her talking.

"On a plane to the States!" replied Kendra. "We're inside the landing gear compartment! We gotta endure this trip!"

"NOT VERY PLEASANT!" noted Clover. "WANT US TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP? JUST TELL US HOW LONG!"

"Um," said Kendra. "I'm not sure! Maybe until that hatch down there opens up!" She pointed down to the hatch at the bottom of the compartment. "I know that you want to conserve magic, Warren, but this is worth it!"

Warren nodded in agreement.

"WE'D PREFER IF YOU'D TELL US IN HOURS, BUT THIS'LL WORK TOO!" exclaimed Bright, as she waved her hands at the hatch, releasing rainbow-colored sparkles into the air. Likewise, Clover enchanted Kendra and Warren with her green sparkles, which suddenly made them feel drowsy.

"I'm so sleepy now," said Kendra, whose eyelids felt like they were made of iron.

"See you later," said Bright, as she and Clover disappeared. Within mere seconds, both Kendra and Warren had fallen fast asleep.

Sometime later, Kendra woke up, feeling very refreshed. She looked over at Warren, who was also waking up as well. Kendra stood up and walked over to the edge of the platform, staring down at the now-open hatch beneath her.

"Whoa!" gasped Kendra. "Warren, we're almost there!"

Warren stood next to Kendra and looked down the hatch as well. Together, they could see the ground getting closer and closer, until the plane finally hit the runway. Tires screeched along the runway with immense force, until the plane slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop.

"Well," said Kendra. "This is it."

Warren nodded and bent down, allowing Kendra to climb onto his back. He then stood up, stretched his wings, and hopped down onto the landing gear proper. From atop the tire, Warren flew out from underneath the enormous aircraft, and up into the air, to where they could see most of the airport.

"Warren!" exclaimed Kendra. "This is JFK Airport! I recognize those buildings!"

Warren nodded in agreement.

"We're in New York! You know the way back to Fablehaven from here?"

Warren nodded a second time, and began to soar off in a northbound direction.

Kendra was truly relieved. She had lost track of time, but at long last, they were finally going to get back home. She and Warren had lost contact with the others, and would've alerted them sooner, but they still managed to make it back in one piece.

Darkness fell once more, but within several hours, Warren and Kendra had finally reached the perimeter of Fablehaven. Warren flew across the preserve, giving Kendra a rarely-seen bird's eye view of the place. Soon the yard came into view, where the lights in the mansion were on in just about every room. Warren swooped down from the air and fluttered by the front door. He rang the doorbell with his beak before landing on the doormat.

Kendra and Warren waited a moment, looking up at the motionless door. "Why aren't they answering? I mean, it's no secret that someone's home now."

Warren shrugged.

"Maybe you should ring the doorbell again. In case they didn't notice us."

Before Warren could oblige, the front door creaked open, and Dale emerged grasping a shotgun in his hands. Kendra and Warren's jaws both dropped at the sight, as Dale looked down at them.

"It's a… bird," said Dale confusedly.

"DALE!" yelled Kendra at the top of her lungs, flailing her arms around.

"KENDRA?" gasped Dale, dropping his shotgun to the ground.

"Kendra?" called several adult voices from the other room.

"It IS Kendra!" exclaimed Dale, taking a closer look at the girl.

The rest of Kendra's friends and family poured out of the front door and crowded around her and Warren, surprised to see her alive.

"Kendra," asked Mrs. Sorenson nervously, tears dripping from her eyes, "are you alright?"

"Where's Warren?" asked Dale.

The falcon responded by lifting up his wings.

"That reminds me," said Kendra. "Bright! Clover! Turn Warren back to normal!"

The two fairies both appeared and unleashed their magical powers onto Warren, restoring him back into a human.

"They're back!" cheered Grandma. "They're both back safe and sound!"

"Nice to see you_, little brother_," chuckled Dale.

"Is this how you greet people?" asked Warren, examining his own human body in relief. "Just kidding. It's great to see you again, bro!"

"Tell us everything," said Grandpa, as he placed his hands down from Kendra and Warren to climb onto and lifted them up, as everyone returned to the house.

"You're never going to believe our story," said Kendra.

"Could we get something to eat first?" asked Warren. "We're starved!"

"Absolutely," said Mrs. Sorenson. "After what you went through, you deserve to have anything you want. We don't have much food ready for you at the moment, but we'll be glad to cook something up."

Grandpa placed Kendra and Warren down on the coffee table in the living room, while everyone else sat either in chairs or on a sofa. Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson placed their hands out and both gave Kendra gentle pats on her tiny head.

"Don't go to too much trouble with dinner," said Warren. "We can't eat very much."

"This is very confusing," said Tanu. "We tried to see if Ikkim had crushed you back in Frozen Fortress, but we found no traces of you."

"It's a long story," said Warren. "But we escaped by hiding in Raze's sack with the Sizeshifter."

"And you got away?" asked Vanessa. "How?"

"We waited until they were asleep," said Kendra. "Then with the help of our fairies, we took the Sizeshifter and made a break for it."

Grandpa nearly spilled his coffee all over his lap upon listening to Kendra. "You GOT the Sizeshifter?" he squealed.

"Yeah," said Warren. "We did, didn't we?"

"Then tell us this much," said Elise. "Where is it now, and why on Earth didn't you ever enlarge yourselves?"

"We couldn't figure out how the stupid thing worked," noted Warren. "Remember how we shrunk ourselves when I tried to shrink Ikkim? The last thing we needed was an accidental repeat of _that_."

"But where's the Sizeshifter?" asked Grandma.

"Oh, right," said Warren. "Clover, we need the Sizeshifter."

Clover then appeared by Warren's side, looking fairly exhausted. "Not now, Warren," wheezed the fairy. "I'm too pooped from turning you back into a human."

"Opal," said Vanessa. "Transfer some of your power over to Clover."

As soon as Vanessa made her demand, Opal appeared next to Clover. Without saying anything, she held Clover's hands in her own and unleashed purple sparkles into Clover's body."

"Thanks, Opal," said Clover with a smile.

"Oh, you're welcome," said Opal with a smile as she disappeared.

Feeling revitalized, Clover began to shine with a bright, green glow, then disappeared. A moment later, she reappeared, along with the Sizeshifter.

Everyone but Kendra and Warren froze, gasping at the presence of the Sizeshifter.

"They did it," cried Grandpa. "They really did it!"

Grandma placed a plate of reheated rigatoni down in front of Kendra and Warren, which they were to share. However, it was far too large for both of them to finish.

After feasting on a small but filling portion of pasta with utensils from their travelling gear, Kendra and Warren relayed their entire misadventure with the Sizeshifter to the others.

"This is great news!" said Grandpa. "Not only have we secured one of the instruments as our own, but you've foiled Navarog's plan to obtain it. Once we figure out how it works, we can use it to try and recover the Drakesoul."

"What did you guys do once we went missing?" asked Warren.

"We panicked," said Tanu. "And cried. We searched the area for you extensively, but couldn't find anything. We eventually gave up and declared that you were lost in battle. We tried contacting you on your cell phones, but got no answer. Your reduced sizes must've messed with the frequency.

"We overheard Raze and Jark talking about how Navarog might already have the Essence of Immunity," said Kendra. "Do you think it's possible he'd really have it?"

"We'll find out," said Grandpa. "First we'll arrange with Agad to have you use the Occulus and learn about what's been happening with Navarog. If he does the Essence of Immunity, along with the Drakesoul, it may be possible to swipe both of them in one fell swoop."

"Navarog sent minions to Frozen Fortress to retrieve the Sizeshifter," said Warren. "And it's likely that he went to Torrential Tunnels himself to get a hold of the Essence of Immunity. You think maybe he sent more minions to the other two vaults?"

"I can't see him sending minions to wherever the Accelerizer is," said Grandpa. "At least not without doing extensive research first. But I'd wager that he sent a strike force to recover the Disapirit in Pileus Palace at the very least.

"These vaults have very powerful distractor spells," said Kendra. "How're these monsters all getting past the spells so easily?"

"Jark," said Vanessa. "Slorggs are immune to all forms of magic. I don't know about the other vaults, but he was definitely the one who helped the team that went to Frozen Fortress.

"Then couldn't Jark, or any slorgg, get to Fablehaven?" asked Kendra.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "However, slorggs are very rare, and the creatures of this preserve have the capacity to deal with them should one cross the boundary.

"But for now, how're we going to figure out how this Sizeshifter works?" asked Warren.

"I'll look into it tonight," said Tanu. "Hopefully I can come to a conclusion. We know for a fact that it supposedly enlarges things. We just need to know how, exactly."

After dinner, Mrs. Sorenson carried Kendra up to her bedroom, where she changed into some spare clothes that had been shrunken while they were in her bag. When Kendra was changed, Mrs. Sorenson brought her to the bathroom, and helped her with brushing her teeth, before transporting her back up to the attic.

"Goodnight, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she placed her daughter atop her bed and patted her head. "We're so relieved to know that you and Warren are all right. If you need anything, send for help with your fairy."

"Goodnight, Mom," said Kendra, as she slipped under the covers of her bed. At her present size, Kendra could use her own bed as a football field if she could round up enough players. It was extremely cozy, and quite fun to be in a bed so large. Still exhausted from her trip, Kendra fell asleep with very little difficulty.

In the morning, Kendra was woken up by her father, who had pushed down on her bed to get her attention. "Wake up, Kendra!" he cried. "Tanu has the answer!"

"What answer?" groaned Kendra groggily.

"He figured out how that Sizeshifter thing actually works!"

Kendra's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Apparently."

"Then what's he waiting for?" asked Kendra. "I want to be my true size already!"

"He wants to do a demonstration. I'll take you to the bathroom to wash up, then Tanu will make you big again."

Kendra couldn't wait as her father scooped her out of bed and cautiously carried her to the bathroom, where she was able to freshen up for the morning. Afterwards, Mr. Sorenson brought Kendra out to the yard, where everyone else was gathering. Warren had positioned himself on Dale's shoulder, as if he were still a bird.

"Is everyone here?" asked Tanu, who was holding the Sizeshifter in his hands. Everyone else either answered positively or nodded.

"Great. Now, as we are all aware, the Sizeshifter was designed for shrinking and enlargement purposes. However, the procedures for these two capabilities are quite the opposite, but very easy to remember.

"Hey, what's going on 'ere?" asked Newell, as he and Doren walked over to the small gathering of people.

"Allow me to demonstrate," said Tanu, aiming the Sizeshifter at Newell. "You merely focus your thoughts, and… voila!"

A beam of orange energy shot out of the Sizeshifter and hit Newell. In a bright flash of orange light, Newell shrunk down until he was on the same scale as Kendra and Warren. He was suddenly greeted with gasps from everyone.

"Thanks fo cuttin' 'im down to size!" laughed Doren, as he loomed over his fellow satyr. "As if we satyrs couldn't get any smaller!"

"And now the key to enlargement," said Tanu, as he fumbled with the Sizeshifter and again fired it at Newell. Before anyone could react, Newell had grown back to his proper size.

"Okay, so he reversed it for ya," muttered Doren. "Big whoop."

Tanu shot Newell a third time, Newell began to grow very rapidly, until he was roughly twenty feet tall, towering over even Hugo and Mendigo.

"You were sayin'?" Newell asked Doren.

"Big whoop," said Doren nervously. "Real big whoop."

Tanu then shot Newell again, shrinking him back down to his proper height once more.

"I'm grateful that you figured out how the Sizeshifter works," said Warren. "But what are you doing that's so special to enlarge things?"

"You'll notice that when I shrink something, I point the narrow crystal end of the Sizeshifter at the desired target," replied Tanu. "However, when I enlarge something, I point the larger, golden end at the target. Get down in front of me and I'll show you."

Dale placed Warren down in front of where Tanu was standing and backed off. Holding the golden end of the Sizeshifter at Warren, Tanu shot him with an orange beam, restoring him to his proper size, and he was greeted with many cheers from the others.

"Now it's Kendra's turn," said Tanu, as Kendra was placed down where Warren had been. Tanu used the Sizeshifter on her as well, shooting her back up to her normal size as well. Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson both immediately wrapped their arms around Kendra and gave her a hug.

"Thanks a million," said Kendra. "So where do we go from here?"

"Hard to say," said Grandpa. "We've got one instrument, the Sizeshifter. Navarog has the Drakesoul , and possibly the Essence of Immunity as well. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch if he also got the Disapirit. However, I doubt that he has the Accelerizer."

"How are we ever going to get the Accelerizer?" asked Kendra.

"Trask is in the UK right now trying to find the true whereabouts of the Accelerizer," replied Grandpa. "However, we'll make arrangements with Agad for you to use the Occulus."

"Me?" asked Kendra.

"You're the safest choice," said Grandma. "You're the only one of us who has experience, and the rest of us could get hurt from using it. If it weren't so risky, we'd have used it to search for you and Warren."

"Exactly," said Grandpa. "If you use the Occulus, you can find out where Navarog is, as well as the rest of the instruments. Maybe even the Accelerizer. If Trask can't even find where the Accelerizer could be located, having you use the Occulus may be our only hope."


	15. Eye on the Prize

**Chapter 15 – Eye on the Prize**

Everyone at Fablehaven opted to take it easy for the rest of the day. Kendra and Warren were in need of a rest from their journey home, while everyone else was overtired from fretting about their disappearance at Frozen Fortress.

Having spent much time resting on her bed, Kendra felt the urge to get up and took a little walk down to the second floor of the house. She ventured into Seth's empty bedroom and looked around. The place was tidy, but if her little brother was still around, it would be more akin a pigsty.

However, there was now a beacon of hope that Kendra could hang on to. The Knights of the Dawn held possession of the Sizeshifter. With it, there was the possibility that they could use it to shrink themselves, venture into Navarog's body and reclaim the Drakesoul. Without it, Navarog would revert back to into Seth. Even though her brother would still be under Navarog's control, they could at least detain him until a solution was found.

Still, there were several obstacles that the Knights would have to overcome before they could perform Operation Stomach Pump on Navarog. The biggest one being that they had to locate Navarog in the flesh. Fortunately, they had access to greatest locator in the world; the Occulus. Of course, they'd still have to physically travel to Navarog, get inside his body without getting caught, retrieve the Drakesoul and escape with their lives.

At roughly six o'clock that evening, Kendra was called down from her room. As she entered the living room, she saw that amongst her friends and family, Agad the wizard was seated on the couch. She walked over to him and he extended his hand, which she shook with a warm smile.

"How are you today, Kendra?" asked Agad.

"Relieved," she replied. "Exhausted. Worried. Stressed. But relieved."

"Would you like something to drink, Agad?" asked Grandma. "Some tea, perhaps?"

"That would be fine," said Agad, turning his head back to Kendra. "I haven't seen you since the victory feast at Zzyzx. Were you able to have a good summer so far?"

"I guess," said Kendra. "But it's hard to say, knowing now that my own brother had been possessed by Navarog for several weeks. It's all I can think about sometimes."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. You have my deepest sympathy."

"What about you?" asked Kendra, as Grandma placed a steaming cup of tea down in front of Agad.

"I've been quite busy working as the new caretaker of Living Mirage. Between general upkeep, looking out for the creatures, and searching for new hiding spots for the five artifacts, I've been a very busy wizard."

"Well, thank you for finding the time to come here," said Kendra.

"I won't lie," said Agad. "I used the Translocater to get here instantly. However, I refuse to lend it out as I fear that it could get lost or stolen. What I'm here for is to let you try your hand at using the Occulus."

"So you still have all five artifacts?" asked Kendra.

"Technically, yes. But I'm keeping them all under lock and key until I can find permanent, suitable homes for them all. By the way, Stan, may I see the Sizeshifter?"

"Of course," said Grandpa, as he presented the sacred instrument to Agad, who accepted it.

Agad gazed at the Sizeshifter, examining it closely with his hands. "So this is an instrument of eternal power? Never imagined I'd ever see one, even if I lived for an eternity. Look at the craftsmanship on this. They don't build magical relics like this anymore. Simple, but effective. Looking at the five artifacts, they're so much more complicated in design, especially that Chronometer. "

"You like it?" asked Kendra.

"It's astounding," replied Agad, handing the Sizeshifter back to Grandpa. "Much like the Occulus. An elaborate tool in a simple design.

As he spoke, Agad reached into his bag and pulled out the Occulus itself. "If you're ready, Kendra, you can use it to begin your search."

"Well, gee, are you sure?" asked Kendra. "It could be dangerous."

"Just be careful," said Warren. "From what you've told us about the Occulus, it doesn't sound pretty. However, it may be our only chance at overtaking Navarog. If you won't do it for us, at least do it for Seth."

"Bright, I need you," said Kendra, as her Fairy Guardian suddenly appeared before everyone.

"Kendra, what are you doing?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Bright, I need you to sense how I'm doing while I use the Occulus. Last time I used it, the Fairy Queen herself saved me from losing my mind."

"I've never done this sort of thing," said Bright, as she flew atop Kendra's head, landed on her hair and placed her tiny hands on Kendra's scalp. "But I'll try."

Kendra nodded and placed her hand on the Occulus, which Agad had set on the coffee table before her. Memories of when Kendra had first used the artifact at Torina Barker's house came rushing back to her. She was able to see the living room and everyone in at varying angles. It was if she was nothing but a floating eyeball, trying to absorb everything it could see.

Kendra blanked out everything that the Occulus was showing her, and focused on one thing. The Essence of Immunity. But what color was it? The Drakesoul was green and the Sizeshifter was orange, but the other three were anybody's guess.

Blue came to Kendra's mind, and the first thing she let herself focus on was the corresponding instrument, whichever one that was. Her focus was very hazy and distorted, almost like static on an old television screen. She tried to focus, thinking about the entire planet Earth as a whole while still concentrating on the instrument, but it only stressed her out.

Suddenly, Kendra's vision disappeared, and she fell back onto the couch. Everyone else gasped, as she opened her eyes and looked around. Everyone was staring at her, including Agad, who was now holding the Occulus.

"Kendra," said Grandpa, are you all right? Bright alerted us to your state of mind."

"Just a little dizzy," replied Kendra, shaking her head. Grandma handed Kendra a cup a tea, which she graciously accepted.

"What did you see?" asked Agad.

"I was trying to look for one of the other instruments, but I just couldn't find it."

"Which one?" asked Tanu.

"I dunno," answered Kendra. "I know that they're all identical in appearance aside from color, so I envisioned a blue one and couldn't find one. Even when I focused on the entire world, I found nothing."

"Have faith," said Elise. "This Occulus is dangerous. Maybe it's not the best thing to be using."

"Maybe none of the instruments are blue," suggested Warren. "Why not look for something that you're familiar with. Say… Navarog?"

Kendra gulped. "Okay, that sounds more feasible." The very thought of Navarog made her skin crawl. However, the demon prince himself was something that they would have to hunt down eventually, so she figured that she might as well oblige.

"Whenever you're ready," said Agad, placing the Occulus back down on the table before Kendra. Bright landed on her head once again, as Kendra leaned forward and placed her hand on the Occulus once more.

"Here goes," said Kendra, as she closed her eyes and focused on one single entity; Navarog. Her former crush known as Gavin, Navarog was the being that had caused Kendra, her friends and family so much grief. And now he had possessed Seth and was intending to conquer the world. Focusing on Navarog wouldn't be difficult, the anguish he had triggered in Kendra's heart was hard to ignore.

Almost instantly, Navarog himself came into view. He was in a vast chamber, large enough for him and the monsters that were surrounding him to dwell in. Among the monsters were Raze and Jark, but the rest were unidentifiable. In particular, Navarog appeared to be talking to Raze, whom he dwarfed, about something, but the limitations of the Occulus made it impossible to hear, as the artifact did not transmit sound.

The next thing that came to Kendra's mind was the Drakesoul. She knew exactly where it was, so she focused directly on Navarog, and let her vision drift inside of his stomach, as if she were a ghost. Now inside of Navarog's stomach, the place must have been the size of a car. If not for her powers, the place would've appeared pitch black.

Kendra knew what to expect from going inside of Navarog's stomach. It was pink, cavernous, and flooded in a liquid of sorts that she presumed was stomach acid. Various objects were sitting in the acid. Disgusted by the sight, Kendra focused on the Drakesoul, allowing her vision to drift through the stomach somewhat.

Kendra's vision came to a halt. Sticking halfway out of the acid in one corner of the stomach was the Drakesoul! It glowed with a bright, green aura, its power forcing Seth's body to remain as Navarog's dragon form.

Although it was obvious that Navarog had the Drakesoul inside of him, another glow caught Kendra's attention from nearby. Kendra focused on this second aura, which was red. It was another instrument of eternal power, also situated in Navarog's stomach! He did indeed have two!

Kendra dropped all focus, until she opened her eyes and let go of the Occulus. Kendra nearly collapsed on the coffee table, but Warren caught her in mid-fall.

"Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson, "are you all right?"

"Yeah," replied Kendra, allowing herself to sit up.

"What did you see?" asked Agad, an eager look gleaming in his eyes.

"I saw Navarog. He was with these monsters in a huge… castle or something! Then I focused on the Drakesoul, which was inside his stomach. But while I was in there, I discovered that he did indeed have another instrument!"

"Which one?" asked Elise.

"Well, it was red," replied Kendra. "I'm assuming it was the Essence of Eternity."

"Just as we feared," said Grandpa. "Navarog now possesses a second instrument. And I too have reason to believe that it is the Essence of Eternity."

"Now we have no choice but to retrieve the instruments from Navarog with the Sizeshifter," said Vanessa. As long as it remains inside of Navarog's body, he is invulnerable."

"Look on the bright side, Vaness," said Warren with a grin, placing his arm over her shoulders. "Now that Navarog has the Essence of Eternity, we can nab two instruments in one go!"

"Putting us at three," said Grandma. "Provided that you come actually out of this… _alive_."

"So where is Navarog, anyway?" asked Elise.

"I don't know," responded Kendra. "I'll have to use the Occulus to find him again and work from there."

"Kendra, don't strain yourself," noted Mrs. Sorenson.

"Sorry, Mom," exclaimed Kendra, as she reached for the Occulus again. "But Navarog already has two of the instruments. We won't stop him by waiting around."

"Can you see Seth with that thing?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "Not Navarog, but… my son… I want…"

"Marla!" exclaimed Mr. Sorenson, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Seth!" bawled Mrs. Sorenson, tears running down the side of her face. That monster has our son, Scott! Our Seth."

"There, there," said Mr. Sorenson, giving his wife a hug. "The knights are doing everything they can to save him. I feel just the same as you about this."

Mr. Sorenson led his hysterical wife out of the living and upstairs to the second floor. More than ever, Kendra wanted nothing more than to free Seth from Navarog. She placed her hand on the Occulus and instantly focused on Navarog again, back in that castle he had been in.

Kendra glared at Navarog. The dragon filled her with disgust and rage. Any fear he emitted was overshadowed by her hatred for him. Even without the Drakesoul, he'd still have control over Seth. The demon had to be vanquished.

Looking away from Navarog and focusing outside the castle, Kendra could sense that it was in a mountainous region somewhere. Kendra looked around more, before backing away from the castle. She rose high above the ground, up into the sky, and beyond into the stratosphere. Looking back down, she could roughly sense where the castle was on Earth. With the location fresh in her head, Kendra snapped out of the vision and back to reality.

"Get me a map!" exclaimed Kendra. "An atlas! A globe! Anything! A pen too!"

Grandma handed Kendra an atlas that had been on a bookshelf, while Dale gave her a pen. Kendra grabbed both items and flipped through the atlas to a page with a map of Iceland on it. Kendra swung the pen down onto the page and drew a circle on a section of the map.

"What is that?" asked Grandpa.

"Here," said Kendra. "This is where I saw it."

"Saw what?" asked Agad.

"Navarog's hideout. He has a lair in Iceland. I pinpointed where I saw it. We can go there and hopefully find him."

"Not quite," stated Grandpa. "Iceland isn't that small a place. Your location will help us significantly, but it doesn't quite show us where to look. You'll have to do some exploring."

"We know where three of the five instruments are, at least," said Grandma. "Can we assume that the Disapirit and Sizeshifter have yet to be found?"

"I could try looking for them," said Kendra. "We know that the Disapirit is supposed to be in Pileus Palace. "But where would we even start looking for the Accelerizer? I don't even know what color it is."

"Let's think about this logically," said Grandpa. "We know that the three discovered instruments are green, red and orange. Ideally, the other two might be blue, purple or yellow.

"There could be other colors, Stan," noted Grandma. "Like pink, white, black, gray, brown-"

"And ruby and olive and violet and fawn…" sang Warren.

"Stop being so silly, Warren," said Elise.

"He has a point," said Vanessa, patting Warren on his shoulder. "We can't just keep guessing colors."

"Let's stick with basic colors," said Stan, who had picked up the Sizeshifter and was examining it. "The base of this is gold, which is very close to yellow. It wouldn't surprise me if yellow was not one of the colors."

"I'll try purple," said Kendra, focusing on the Occulus. She then let her vision fall under the control of the artifact, which brought her to clouds drifting across the sky. Before her stood a golden floating building, large enough to be a massive castle of sorts.

Before Kendra could keep going, her vision began spinning out of control. Kendra's vision of the building in the sky blurred out until everything went black.


	16. Iceland Bound

**Chapter 16 – Iceland Bound**

Kendra felt woozy. Her head was spinning. As she opened her eyes, light poured down upon them, startling her. She looked around. Kendra was now lying down on the couch, everyone else in the room hovering over her. Among them were all five fairy guardians.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson with a worried smile on her face. "Are you all right?"

"I'm… I'm fine, replied Kendra. "Just a little tired. What happened?"

"The Occulus," said Grandpa. "You were using it for a while, then you just blanked out. Bright sensed that you were in trouble, and told us to separate you from the Occulus."

"You had us all worried!" cried Bright, who was floating over Kendra along with the other fairies. "When you fainted, the rest of my comrades just appeared, without even being summoned!"

"We sensed that Kendra was in danger," said Tiara. "We had to help her."

"It's good to know that you are all right, Kendra," said Tanu. "Would you mind sharing with us what you saw using the Occulus, if you can remember?"

"Well, I told you about how I saw Navarog, right?"

"Yes," said Elise. "About how he had both the Drakesoul and what we believe is the Essence of Immunity. And how he's in a castle somewhere in Iceland. It was when you used the Occulus after that that you blanked out."

"Well, I tried to focus on another instrument, and I got a faint vision of this building floating in the sky. But that's all I can recall."

"It must've been Pileus Palace," said Grandma. "What did it look like?"

"I can't really recall. It just sort of faded before I could really harness my vision on it. I just couldn't continue."

"We all feel that you've used the Occulus enough," said Agad. "That was a close call. If not for your Fairy Guardian, we could've lost you permanently. I didn't like the idea of having you use the Occulus, but it did help us immensely."

"So, now that we know that Navarog is in Iceland, I take it we'll be heading off there soon, yes?" asked Warren.

"Correct," said Tanu. "We will make our preparations tonight, and head out as soon as possible. I don't want to jump into this mission too quickly, but we have no idea as to how long Navarog will be there."

Kendra then turned to face her parents. "Mom. Dad. My main priority for going on this mission is not so much to recover the instruments. But to recover Seth."

"Please be okay," said Mr. Sorenson, resting his hand on Kendra's shoulder.

"Even if we can't immediately extract Navarog, we can at least turn him back into a human. If that's the case, we may just have a shot at restoring Seth."

"Are you sure we can't bring the Occulus with us to Iceland, Agad?" asked Warren. "We promise to use it sparingly. Or any of the other artifacts for that matter."

"The answer is, and always will be, no." said Agad. "None of the artifacts are to leave my sight, ever. Especially with you lot venturing into enemy territory. It's not that I don't trust you knights, but we cannot afford to lose any more valuables to the enemy."

"What if we need to use the Occulus again?" asked Vanessa.

"Should the need arise, you are welcome to try your hand at it as much as necessary. Hopefully, you won't need to use it again."

"What about for the Accelerizer?" asked Kendra. "We don't know where it is, even _with_ the help of the Occulus."

"Trask is still trying to unravel that mystery," said Grandpa. "Hopefully, he'll find a lead on it sooner or later. But I can understand why. Something that can practically control time could be extremely dangerous. The ancients must have hidden it in the ultimate hiding spot."

Afterwards, Agad stayed to enjoy a delicious dinner with everyone at Fablehaven. Later on, he bid everyone farewell before returning to his home at Living Mirage by use of the Translocater. As for the Knights of the Dawn, they spent the rest of the evening making their preparations to set out for Iceland the following day, then went to bed immediately so that they could have a good night's sleep.

The next morning, Kendra woke up early, at breakfast and freshened up along with the rest of her fellow knights. As usual, Mr. Sorenson drove them to the airport, and they departed on a plane headed for Reykjavik, Iceland.

As the plane drifted across the sky, Kendra, who had been seated by a window seat, couldn't help but stare out at the clouds. She knew that somewhere out there lay Pileus Palace. She wasn't sure where, exactly, but at some point they would have to venture there. Why was it that Navarog, or possibly his minions, had yet to travel there and claim the Disapirit for themselves?

Several hours later, the plane landed at the airport in Reykjavik. Given that Kendra had recently been on longer flights from New York to Hawaii and Siberia, Iceland didn't seem all that far from home.

As they exited the airport, the knights were greeted by pleasantly warm weather. They then stepped into a limo, which drove them to the hotel they were staying at.

"You'd think a place called Iceland would be a little… icier," said Warren, stepping out of the limo. Although Warren was joking, his remark reminded Kendra of something Seth would've said. It only made her miss her brother even more.

After settling in at the hotel, the knights all took it easy for the rest of the day, agreeing to head out in search of Navarog's castle first thing in the morning. Kendra was to share a hotel room with Warren, while Vanessa and Elise had their own, and Tanu went solo.

That next morning it was raining heavily. Tanu had rented another SUV, much like the one he had rented in Hawaii. As he drove up to the front door of the hotel, the rest of the knights climbed in quickly to get out of the rain. Warren sat in the passenger seat next to Tanu, earning a frown of sorts from the driver.

"Don't look at me," said Warren, as he buckled his seatbelt. "The other seats were taken."

"I'd prefer to not have another case of déjà vu," muttered Tanu, as he watched the windshield wipers sway back and forth, clearing off droplets of water every few seconds. "I don't want to lose my license if I keep crashing."

"We're just going to drive around in the area that Kendra has circled in the atlas," said Warren, who had the atlas itself opened to the corresponding page. "If we sense something suspicious, stop the car."

"There're no real roads in the area where Kendra circled," said Elise. "Are we just going to drive around aimlessly to find this place?"

"We'll do what we must," said Tanu, as he placed his foot on the pedal and began to drive off from the hotel.

Kendra, who was seated behind Tanu, stared out her window at the murky countryside. The rain made it hard to see anything, and she was afraid that even if they did come across Navarog's lair, there was a chance she wouldn't even notice it. The ride was overly boring for Kendra. However, she was the only member of the group who could overlook a distractor spell, which was crucial, as they didn't have the precise location for their destination.

"We're about to enter the area that Kendra circled," said Warren roughly half-an-hour later. He was comparing the atlas to a map on his laptop. That doesn't make our job much easier though. That circle is the size of a city!"

"Nothing out here but hills," said Tanu.

"I can't really see anything," noted Kendra, "There's too much rain."

"Kendra and I should switch seats," said Warren. "She can get a better view of the landscape from up here."

"You've got a point," said Tanu, as he stopped the SUV. Kendra and Warren got out of their respective seats and ran around the SUV through the rain until they got into their new positions.

"How's that?" asked Tanu, as Kendra buckled up and brushed back her sopping hair.

"Better," said Kendra, looking out the front window.

Tanu continued to drive onwards for a while longer, before he suddenly slowed down and pulled over.

"What's wrong?" asked Kendra.

"We're almost out of gas," answered Tanu. "We should head back to the main road and find a station."

"But the fuel gauge says you've got three quarters of a tank!" exclaimed Kendra.

"No it doesn't," said Vanessa, who had leaned her head into the front seat. "What are you talking about? It's practically at the E!"

Without saying a word, Kendra unbuckled her seatbelt, receiving looks from the others. She turned to face Tanu. Before anyone could say anything, she reached for the gearshift with one hand and switched it to neutral. With her other hand, she reached for the ignition, turned off the SUV, and ripped out the key.

"I've got a spare," said Tanu with a frown, as Kendra opened her door. "Now get back in here!"

"Bright!" shrieked Kendra. "Make both sets of car keys disappear!"

Bright waved her hands around, causing rainbow sparkles to flow from her fingertips. Everyone watched as the keys in Kendra's hand suddenly vanished.

"Mine are gone too!" gasped Tanu, feeling around in his left pocket. "Tiara, get my keys back!"

"NO!" exclaimed Kendra as Tiara appeared.

"Bright," said Tiara, "I don't know what influence Kendra has on you, but I demand that you bring back those keys immediately!"

"Tiara," said Kendra. "I_ order_ you to stop listening to Tanu."

"Well?" asked Tanu.

"I have no choice," replied the fairy, as she disappeared.

"Look, we're obviously very close to the lair," said Kendra. "Or else you wouldn't have all thought that the fuel gauge was almost empty except for me."

Elise huffed. "She's got a point. We're under the power of the distractor spell. We mustn't give in to it."

"But where's it coming from?" asked Vanessa.

"Hard to say," answered Warren, going over his map. "Maybe we should proceed on foot, with Kendra leading the way."

"Fine," said Tanu. "But if we find a gas station while we're out there, make a note of it."

Everyone then got out of the car and grabbed their belongings, all holding an umbrella in their hands to shield themselves from the rain. Kendra was holding the front end of a rope in her free hand, and was to lead the group of five knights to wherever the distractor spell was emitting from.

"First thing's first," said Kendra. "Tiara, I order you to return to Tanu."

"As you wish," said the fairy, who disappeared as quickly as she reappeared.

Kendra began stomping across the muddy grasslands to where she presumed that the castle was. Every so often, she looked back at the others to see that they were all still with her. She led the dreary group up a fairly long hill, before gazing at the site on the other side.

"We made it!" cried Kendra, as the others all caught up to her.

"I see it!" exclaimed Tanu with a smile.

In the distance, situated at the bottom of the hill, but stretching upwards past the top, was a tall, black, gothic castle. The five knights all stared up at the imposing structure, and then looked down towards the bottom. The castle was actually surrounded by a circular chasm, serving much like a moat of sorts.

"I really hope they didn't notice us," said Warren.

"If they approach, I've got the Sizeshifter on me," said Vanessa, patting her bag.

"Good idea," said Warren. "If they attack, cut 'em down to size."

The group ventured down the hill, which was surprisingly steep. If what lay at the bottom wasn't so dangerous, it probably would've been a lot of fun to go tobogganing down in the winter. Looking at the castle, Kendra assumed that if it were a regular building, it would've been at least forty stories tall. However, there were probably fewer actual stories than that, as the monsters it housed would need fairly high ceilings.

As they neared the bottom of the hill, the knights forced themselves to stop. "Careful," said Tanu. "That chasm is quite steep."

Warren ventured down to the very edge of the chasm and gazed down. "Yikes. Forget crocodiles! Fill your moat with a bottomless pit instead!"

"Help us!" cried a very faint voice.

"Who said that?" asked Warren, trying to sense where the noise was coming from.

"We're down here!"

"Warren, who's there?" asked Elise.

"There's someone, or something, crying from inside the chasm! I could barely hear it, but it's there!"

"It might be a trap," said Tanu.

"Clover, go down and see who's calling for help."

Clover appeared by Warren and flew down into the canyon. A moment later, she flew back to Warren.

"There's fairies down there!" gasped Clover. "And they're trapped!"

"You're right Tanu," said Warren. "It is a trap! Can you rescue them, Clover?"

"No good. Their cage is magic-proof!"

"How far down is it?" asked Warren.

"About thirty feet beneath the bridge! But it doesn't look very sturdy! If one of you humans could get down there, you could probably rip the cage open with your bare hands!"

"It's too dangerous for one of us," said Warren.

"Clover," said Elise. "What's the cage made out of?"

"Metal. Doesn't look too sturdy, though."

"Try using this," said Elise, handing a pair of pliers to Clover, who could barely support their weight.

"They're a tad heavy. How am I supposed to use them?"

"Slip them through the bars and see what the other fairies can do! Geminus, give Clover a hand!"

Elise's fairy appeared and flew over to Clover, helping to lift it in the air.

"You too, Bright!" said Kendra. Tanu and Vanessa send out Tiara and Opal respectively. Together, the five fairies flew the pliers down to the cage. A few minutes later, they returned along with three other fairies.

"Your Fairies Guardians saved us," said one of the new fairies, who sported long, blue hair. "But what brings you humans all the way here?"

"We're here to recover two powerful tools that are being misused for nefarious purposes," replied Vanessa.

"Two?" asked one of the other fairies. "We've only charged one!"

"It didn't look like this, did it?" asked Vanessa, pulling the Sizeshifter out of her bag.

"Yes!" exclaimed all three fairies in response.

"Except…"

"It was…"

"Red."

"So you fairies were captured by Navarog, and he's exploiting your magical abilities?" asked Kendra.

"That's right," said one of the fairies, as the trio floated around in front of Kendra. "And the outdoor cage was to keep us imprisoned without turning us into imps overnight."

"Thank you for coming to our rescue, though," said one of the other fairies. "We didn't want to charge the crystal, but we were threatened with death had we not obliged!"

"Anything else we can do to help?" asked the third fairy.

"That all right," answered Kendra. "We have our fairy guardians. You're free to leave."

"I have one question, though," said Warren. "Do you have any advice as to what we should expect going into that castle? We know Navarog and his goons inhabit it, but is there anything we should watch out for?"

"I'm afraid we've never been inside the castle," stated one of the fairies, "so there is no advice we can give you. We'd like to help, but you seem folks seem more capable enough, and we're terrified. Good luck!"

The knights then watched as the three fairies flew off through the rain. "I think we're going to need all the luck we can get," said Warren.


	17. Stakeout

**Chapter 17 – Stakeout **

The five Knights of the Dawn marched around to the other side of the circular chasm that surrounded Navarog's vast castle, until they reached the stone bridge located on the far side.

Kendra's heart stopped. "What if Navarog comes out and destroys us?"

"Our only advantage here is that Navarog isn't expecting us," said Tanu. "If his monsters overwhelm us, Vanessa can shrink them with the Sizeshifter.

"And what about Navarog himself?"

"I don't believe we'll be able to shrink him as long as he is under the influence of the Drakesoul. Being an instrument of eternal power, the Drakesoul cannot be shrunk with the Sizeshifter.

"We've got everything we need," said Elise, looking through her bag. "As long as we don't get caught, this whole mission might actually work."

Warren stepped onto the vast bridge leading over the chasm and to the front door. "I see something sleeping on the other side. I'll go check it out."

Warren trotted across the bridge to the far side, and mulled over a large creature that was slumbering that was there. Warren then waved his hand, signalling for the rest of the group to follow him. He then placed his index finger in front of his mouth, implying that they should be as quiet as possible.

The other four knights walked across the bridge to where Warren and the sleeping creature were waiting. Looking down at the creature, Kendra saw something that could best be described as a cross between a brown warthog and a rhinoceros, with large spines covering its back, almost like a giant porcupine.

"It's a flambler," whispered Vanessa. "Very large. Very powerful. Very lazy."

Tanu pressed against the large, wooden front door of the castle, swinging it open, but not with very much force. He stepped across the threshold and waved his hand to show that the coast was clear.

The rest of the knights followed Tanu into the castle, and he gently closed the door behind himself. As eerie as the castle was, there was at least no rain inside. Looking around, the knights could see that they were in a vast stone foyer built on a scale too large for humans. The place was cold and dark, illuminated by giant torches hanging on the walls. Looking closer at the torches, Kendra could tell that there were actually tree trunks.

"You think they were expecting us?" asked Kendra. "Why was there a guard?"

"Navarog isn't going to take chances," said Elise. "Even if he doesn't expect us to ever find this place, he's not going to let anyone wander in by accident. We're lucky that the guard probably only fell asleep out of boredom."

"Where do we go from here?"

"We explore," said Warren. "The monsters are probably on another level. "We'll have to keep our distance as we progress through the castle."

The knights traversed the stone floor of the foyer, until they reached a staircase too large to walk up. Instead, they had to climb it, as each step was at least four feet high.

As intimidating as the castle appeared to be, it was actually fairly quiet on the interior. The knights continued their way up the stories of the castle until they were on the landing of one of the highest floors. The climb had taken a lot of energy out of all of them, prompting Tanu to hand out a granola bar to everyone.

"What a workout," exclaimed Kendra, wiping sweat from her brow."

"Look on the bright side," gasped Warren, as he took glug from his canteen. "If we make it out of here alive, we get to jump down the stairs on our way out."

"I hear something," said Vanessa, looking around for the source of the noise. "It's from down the hall."

Vanessa crept down the vast hallway, hugging the wall as she progressed. The others watched as she poked her head around a doorway, then quickly pulled it away, dashing back to the group as fast as her legs could carry her.

"It's Navarog!" she wheezed. "And some other monsters! They didn't see me, but lord was that scary!"

Warren gave Vanessa a hug. "It's okay. They still aren't on to us. But at least we're in the right place."

"We need a way to spy on them without being noticed."

"In a castle like this?" asked Kendra. "If Seth were here, the real Seth that is, he'd try and find a way behind one of those paintings with those fake eyeholes that you see in the movies."

"Not a bad idea, really," said Tanu.

"I was being sarcastic."

"No, spying through the wall. We could do that and potentially not get detected."

"We'll have to find a secret passage first," said Warren. "Unless you've got a better plan."

"Watch this," said Tanu, as he pulled a navy blue potion out of his bag. He uncorked the vial and downed the contents, then stepped against the wall. "With this strength potion, I should be able to move this block."

Tanu gripped onto a block that was part of the wall and pushed against it. Within seconds, the block, which was the size of a large dog, separated from the rest of the wall and Tanu pushed it behind.

"What'd you do that for?" asked Elise.

"I just created a secret passage," said Tanu, stepping through the hole he created. "Come on in!"

The rest of the knights followed Tanu through the hole in the wall, and into the crawlspace. Although Kendra could see, the rest of the knights pulled out flashlights to see in the dark. The place was full of cobwebs and dust. Tanu then pushed the block back into its original position, although it was no longer a part of the wall.

"Down this way," said Vanessa, leading the group down the crawlspace a short distance, then came to a stop. "I think that the room was right around here."

Tanu leaned against a vertical wooden beam and looked up. "We need to get to the top. It'll be safer to spy on Navarog from up there."

"We could fly," said Elise, "but it'd waste our fairies' magic."

"If this is a stakeout, the fairies will have time to recuperate," said Vanessa. "All the monsters are awake."

All at once, the five knights summoned their fairies and had them0selves levitated up to a high rafter running along the wall in the crawlspace. The rafter intersected with a vertical beam, which was barely wide enough for one person to stand on. Tanu pressed against the block next to the beam, and using the leftover strength from his potion, shifted the block slightly out of position, until there was a hole large enough for him to fit through.

Tanu passed through the hole, and climb onto the rafter on the other side, gesturing for the others to follow. Soon all five knights were atop the rafter in the room that Vanessa had poked her head into.

Looking down, Kendra could see at least twenty monsters beneath her. They all appeared to be eating, sleeping, or talking amongst themselves. Aside from Navarog, the only two monsters that Kendra recognized were Raze and Jark.

After waiting for a few minutes, Raze waked up to Navarog. At this point, Kendra realized that sitting next to Navarog was a large, purple wyvern.

"Navarog," said Raze nervously. "How are we ever going to recover any more of the instruments at this rate?"

"We've been over this before!" snarled Navarog, picking up Raze by one of his many arms. "The knights have the Sizeshifter. Or so you claim. The Disapirit still remains unobtainable. And we have no leads whatsoever on the Accelerizer."

"Any suggestions?" asked Raze. "Should we try and hunt down the knights?"

"The only guaranteed way we'll find those knights is if we wait for them outside Pileus Palace!"

"I'm not going there! We've sent two groups there so far and none of them have returned!"

"Guess I'll have to go there myself," said Navarog, placing Raze back on his feet. "Whatever's stopping them doesn't scare me."

"Are you sure that's wise?" asked the wyvern. "Why waste our resources, when we can let those stupid knights do all the work for us?"

"And just when are we going to run into the knights, Avanta?" asked Navarog.

"Look, you have two of the instruments inside of you," said Avanta. "If the Knights want to complete their collection, they'll have to track you down."

"Yeah, but they're not going to risk bringing any of their instruments to confront you. Unless they're stupid."

"Yeah," said Navarog. "I'm invulnerable as it stands. They can't possibly affect me with the other instruments! No way can they get _my_ instruments out of _my_ body."

"You really think they can get the Disapirit and the Accelerizer?" asked Raze.

"Maybe the Disapirit," suggested Navarog. "But I'd really be impressed if they found the Accelerizer."

"That would be something," said Avanta. "Those notes just said that its location was top secret, and that we'd find a lead somewhere in London."

"And we don't even know where to begin looking," said Navarog. "Our best bet may actually be to let those pathetic knights do all the hard work in finding it."

"Yeah, but how do we get it from them?" asked Raze. "How will we even know if they actually find it?"

"We'll have to think this over," answered Avanta, rubbing her horned head with her wing. "If we can't so much as locate the vault, we won't even be able to get there to see if the Accelerizer is already gone. Of course if that Kendra girl really is dead, they may experience difficulties in obtaining the other instruments."

"What happens if we never get a hold of all five instruments?" asked Raze.

"Well, maybe I won't get my wish of complete mastery over the entire world," said Navarog. "But it's not so bad. I do have two instruments inside of me right now."

"It's such a shame," said Raze. "You're an invincible dragon, yet you still complain."

"And who cares if the knights have the Sizeshifter?" asked Avanta. "It's not like they can even shrink you with it."

"Assuming they even have it," added Raze, trying to hide a suspicious grin.

"Well I'm not one to launch an all-out attack," stated Navarog. "Those knights may just have an ace up their sleeves. They could still shrink all of you other monsters. Even if they can't harm me, spreading my influence over the planet is going to take a long time doing it singlehandedly."

A creature the size of a bus, that resembled a gigantic, cyan squid wiggled over to Navarog, holding a live goat in one of its tentacles.

"Ah, my main course," said Navarog, accepting the goat in his claws. The goat was squirming and baahing profusely. All the knights could sense that it was frightened, and dreaded what to expect next.

Kendra couldn't look, but she heard as Navarog placed the live goat in his mouth. Screaming for help, Kendra heard the goat's bones getting crushed by Navarog's jaw before its entire body was swallowed.

"Let's get out of here," whispered Warren, leading the group back across the rafter and into the hole in the wall that they had entered through. Once everyone had gone through the hole, they pushed the loosened block back into position.

"We have no time to waste," said Tanu. "We need to recover the two instruments from within Navarog as soon as possible."

"At least Raze isn't completely sure of the whereabouts of the Sizeshifter," said Vanessa, patting her bag, which contained the sought-after instrument."

"What about when we go after the Disapirit?" asked Elise. "They might plan an ambush."

"We may just have to take what they throw at us. However, the good news is that we won't be too alarmed if they throw us a surprise party at Pileus Palace."

"How about we just get those instruments out of Navarog before he causes even more trouble?" asked Kendra. "He has those instruments for all the wrong reasons!"

"Well, we can't just launch a pre-emptive strike on Navarog," explained Tanu. "Even with the sleeping formula, we'd still have to wait until the coast is clear before entering his body."

"So, we'll have to spy on him, basically," said Vanessa.

"Going inside a dragon's stomach?" asked Kendra. "It's a nightmare come true."

"I'll be with you the whole time," said Warren. "If you get scared, Bright will be more than willing to teleport you to safety."

"I'm just afraid that Navarog will wake up digest us or something," muttered Kendra.

"The Drakesoul and the Essence of Eternity are not the only important things inside of Navarog," said Tanu. Your brother Seth is trapped as well. Not literally, but in spirit."

"I know said Kendra."

"If you don't want to do it to rescue the instruments," said Warren, "do it for Seth."

"But Navarog will still have control over his body," exclaimed Kendra.

"True, but at least Navarog will be powerless. If we can turn him back into Seth, or a human, or whatever you want to refer to him as, we might able to save your brother."

"You guys are right," said Kendra. "This may be the only chance I have to save Seth. I know he's inside Navarog. Trapped within the deep, dark void that is Navarog's soul is my brother. We have to rescue him. I… love him."

Kendra began to cry, prompting Elise to hand her a tissue.

"Look, if we can pull this mission off, our problems with Navarog might very well be over!" exclaimed Vanessa.

"Really?" asked Kendra, dabbing her tears.

"Yes! We'll have three instruments to work with. We shrink all the monsters with the Sizeshifter _and _we can have someone turn into a dragon to dominate them!"

"What about the Essence of Eternity?" asked Kendra.

"It's not too practical in this circumstance," said Warren. "Just think of it as a nice little bonus."

"All right," said Kendra. "We're going to go inside Navarog to recover the instruments, and everything will work out in the end. Or Navarog will eat us."

Warren gave Kendra a hug. "We can do this. We've come so close. Anyone who's too scared to go through with this shouldn't even be here. Navarog is going down."


	18. Belly of the Beast

**Chapter 18 – Belly of the Beast**

For the next few hours, the Knights of the Dawn opted to hide out inside the crawlspace next to Navarog's room. It was not a pleasant experience, as the placed was decorated in cobwebs and served as a highway for vermin.

For dinner, Tanu dealt out sandwiches that he had packed. The sandwich itself was nothing to write home about, but it did satiate Kendra's appetite, if nothing else. The sandwiches were followed by granola bars for desert and miniature cartons of fruit juice to wash it all down.

Eventually, the group climbed back down from the rafter and exited the crawlspace through the way they had entered. Vanessa once again peered into the room that Navarog was in, then waved her hand, gesturing for the others to meet up with her.

Gazing into the vast chamber, the knights could see that all the monsters in it were asleep. There were fewer than there were earlier, but Navarog was still there, curled up with Avanta. Kendra assumed that Avanta was Navarog's girlfriend.

The knights slipped back behind the doorway, and Vanessa pulled the Sizeshifter out of her bag. "Should I perhaps use this to shrink the other monsters?" she asked.

"I'd rather you didn't," replied Tanu. "It's tempting, but don't want to risk waking any of them up."

"We could use the sleeping formula that you and I prepared."

"We need the formula to ensure that Navarog is asleep for the duration of this whole operation. Also, Kendra and Warren need to get in and out of Navarog as quickly as possible to reduce our chances of getting caught. If Navarog wakes up, Kendra and Warren might get trapped inside of him."

"Couldn't our fairies just teleport the instruments out of Navarog, like Clover did with the Sizeshifter on the way home from Frozen Fortress?" asked Kendra.

"Not while the instruments are in use, which they are."

Tanu then pulled out two white suits that were small enough for a fairy to wear, and placed them down on the floor in front of him. "I figured I could save room this way. Enlarge these, Vanessa."

Vanessa aimed the wide end of the Sizeshifter at the two suits, enlarging them until they were appropriately sized for humans to wear. Now at their proper size, Kendra could see that they were actually radiation suits.

Kendra knew what to do, and got suited up in one of the suits, while Warren did the same in the other. She then sealed the transparent mask over her face, while Tanu fiddled with the oxygen tank suspended on her back to provide air into the suit.

Vanessa aimed the Sizeshifter at Kendra and Warren, shrinking them down until they were the size of fairies. Thankfully, the experience was nothing new to them, as they had been shrunken to half this size beforehand during the mishap at Frozen Fortress.

Elise picked up the two suited knights, and carried them into Navarog's chamber in her hands. Looking around, Kendra was worried that one of the monsters would suddenly wake up and attack them. When they reached the slumbering Navarog, Elise placed them on the floor by his imposingly huge snout.

"Do we really need to be _this_ small?" asked Kendra, looking up at Navarog's massive teeth.

"We need to ensure that we can slip into Navarog's body without irritating him," replied Warren, as Vanessa enlarged a shrunken tank of sorts, much like the kind that contain helium for balloons. From the resized tank, Elise fed a small hose into Navarog's mouth before turning it on.

"Sleeping formula" whispered Elise, "so that Navarog won't wake up during all this."

Tanu then reached for Navarog's upper lip, and held it up slightly, just so that there was enough room for Warren and Kendra to slip inside his jaw and enter his mouth. "Good luck," he said.

When the jaw snapped shut behind them, Warren immediately turned on the lantern that was built onto the top of his suit, akin to a miner's helmet. Although Kendra did not need her light, she turned it on anyway to assist Warren.

Looking around the inside of Navarog's mouth, Kendra and Warren could see that the walls of it were lined with fearsomely jagged teeth. In comparison, if Navarog's mouth were human-sized, they were roughly the size of gumballs.

Warren stepped onto the tip of Navarog's moist tongue, feeling rather awkward about the situation, due to the sensitivity of that particular muscle. Kendra followed heed, trying not to slip, until they reached the back of Navarog's mouth. Since Navarog was lying down, his esophagus appeared to be a tunnel of sorts.

As they stepped into the esophagus, Kendra couldn't help but be freaked out by a large slit on the ceiling. "What is that?"

"It's the gland of a dragon that allows them to breathe fire," replied Warren. "Never thought I'd live to see one up close like this, though. If Navarog were to detect us right now, we'd be deep-fried."

Warren led the way down Navarog's esophagus. Due to the demon prince's sleeping position, the path unevenly curved up and down in places. It was hard for Kendra to keep her footing, given the smooth, frictionless nature of the innards of a dragon's body.

Eventually, they come out of the end of the esophagus, and plummeted into what seemed like a grimy, indoor swimming pool. However, Kendra where exactly where they were: Navarog's stomach.

Standing up in the liquid, Kendra came to the realization that if she and Warren had not been wearing radiation suits, Navarog's stomach acid would likely be searing through their skin at this very moment. The stomach was like a flooded cavern, complete with vast, pinkish walls. Sticking out of the pool of stomach acid were things that resembled bones of sorts.

"This was his dinner," said Warren, pointing to a goat skull that had nearly already been halfway disintegrated by Navarog's stomach acid.

"Can these suits withstand the stomach acid?" asked Kendra.

"If they can handle nuclear fusion, then let's hope so."Tanu did spray them with some sort of magical coating back home. Kinda like when you weatherproof a pair of shoes."

"So where are these instuments?" asked Kendra, gazing around the stomach, trying her best not to get grossed out by all the bile and halfway digested food that were floating around."

"This journey is turning into a rejected Magic School Bus field trip," muttered Warren. "But to answer your question, I should be the one asking you. You _were_ the one who saw them with the Occulus."

"It just sorta plopped me in front of them," stated Kendra, as she splashed through the neck-high stomach acid. "But this place isn't really that big. We're just really small."

"I must be having _**déjà vu**_!" gasped Warren, who had proceeded to march off in another direction.

"Why's that?"

"I found the Drakesoul! Again!"

Kendra waded over to where Warren was, and he directed her attention to the large jewel that stood before them; the Drakesoul. Sticking out of the pool, the gleaming instrument was roughly double their current sizes.

"Has it been active this whole time?" asked Kendra. "Non-stop?"

"Since the incident back at the pool in Hawaii? I'd wager yes. When they say _instrument of eternal power_, they MEAN _eternal power_!

"So, I guess we should just haul the thing out of here. Right?"

"Not yet," answered Warren. "We still have to get the Essence of Immunity first. If the Drakesoul gets taken out first, Navarog will turn back into Seth, yes. But, the Essence of Immunity will be stuck inside of him, and could even kill him."

"I get it," moaned Kendra. "I guess I'm more concerned about getting rid of Navarog that depowering him."

"Well, we're here to collect both, so put on a happy face."

Kendra nodded and then split up from Warren to continue looking for the Essence of Immunity. As her body sifted through the dreary contents of Navarog's stomach acid, she searched high and low for the Essence of Immunity. Despite not ever having seen it in person, she knew exactly what it looked like. However, she constantly had to wipe off the visor of her radiation suit, as moisture continually consolidated on it.

After a good minute or so of searching, Kendra bumped into something, but couldn't quite make out what it was. There was nothing sticking out of the acid, but she could definitely feel something solid when she gently kicked ahead of her. She placed the hands of her suit up her finding, and felt around. It was long and smooth.

Feeling lucky, Kendra submerged her entire body, and gazed upon the object before her. How could she have missed it? It was the Essence of Immunity, emitting its unique red glow, which had admittedly been dampened by the stomach acid. It had been lying on its side, as opposed to facing up.

Kendra immediately popped out of the stomach acid. "WARREN! I FOUND IT!"

Warren trudged over to Kendra as quickly as he could, and stopped before here. "Where is it?" he asked excitedly.

"Right under there," replied Kendra, pointing to where it was.

Warren nodded and stuck his head under the acid to get a better look, then pulled it back up. "Nice job! Now let's get that thing out of here!"

"It's gonna be heavy at our size," noted Kendra . "Should we ask our fairies?"

"Navarog's negative energy repels fairies. Besides, they've helped us plenty, and Tanu leant me some strength potions we can use."

Warren unzipped a wide pocket on his suit, and pulled out two vials which had been shrunk along with them. Kendra recognized the formula inside the vials as the one Tanu had consumed earlier from when he had moved the block.

"Bottoms up."

Kendra accepted a vial from Warren. The two of them quickly uncorked the vials, opened the visors of their suits, down the formula, tossed the vials into the pool of acid, then snapped their visors shut.

A weird sensation ran through Kendra's body. It was if every muscle in her body were expanding like balloons. Feeling her arms, Kendra realized that they weren't actually growing, but it certainly felt like they were.

"All right, Kendra. Try lifting the Essence out of the acid."

"Are you sure this'll work?"

"Just do it."

Kendra reached under the acid and placed her arms around the Essence of Immunity. With almost no effort, she lifted the golden end out of the stomach acid.

"As long as it's still inside Navarog, these instruments will likely stay in effect," said Warren, lifting up the crystal end. "Now let's get this thing outta here!"

Kendra and Warren carried the Essence of Immunity through Navarog's stomach towards his esophagus. If nothing else, Kendra was glad to finally be out of the grimy stomach. Although the muscles of the esophagus were designed to push food downwards, Kendra and Warren experienced little difficulty pushing against them.

At last they were inside of Navarog's mouth again. Kendra and Warren brought the Essence of Immunity to the front of the mouth, where Warren pushed Navarog's jaw open. Tanu, Elise and Vanessa peered through from the other side, all with wide looks on their faces.

"We got it," whispered Warren, as he and Kendra fed the Essence of Immunity through Navarog's teeth and into Tanu's gloved hands.

"Excellent," whispered Tanu. "We'd have shrunk the other monsters, but the shock of the Sizeshifter might wake them up and trigger a chain reaction."

"Don't worry," said Warren. "We'll be back with the Drakesoul soon, and then we can get out of here!"

"Let's just get this over with," said Kendra, once she and Warren walked back through the mouth towards the esophagus. They proceeded down the tunnel, until they slid back down into the stomach, where they headed over to the Drakesoul."

"How long do these potions last?" asked Kendra.

"Maybe five to ten minutes," answered Warren. "We should still have enough time to get the Drakesoul out of Navarog, but Tanu made us spares just in case. Take yours just in case."

Warren handed Kendra another vial, which she pocketed into her suit. "But we need to conserve these. They were the only ones Tanu could prepare for this trip."

Wasting no more time, Kendra and Warren lifted the Drakesoul out of the acid, and proceeded to haul it out of Navarog's stomach as they did with the Essence of Immunity. Kendra couldn't believe it. In a few moments, Navarog would revert back into Seth. Although her brother would still be possessed, it would at least solve part of the problem.

On their way through Navarog's esophagus, the entire place began wobbling wildly.

"What going on?" asked Kendra, as a moaning noise echoed through Navarog's body.

"He's waking up!" shouted Warren. "Let's get outta here!"

Kendra and Warren dashed to the top of the esophagus as the incline quickly rose upwards. Just before it got too steep, they managed to get into Navarog's mouth with the Drakesoul. Navarog growled viciously, and they were right next to his personal loudspeaker.

"What happened?" gasped Kendra, who watched as Navarog's forked tongue violently swayed back and forth.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Warren, as he and Kendra attempted to carry the Drakesoul over Navarog's tongue. However, Navarog stuck the thumb and index finger of his claw into his mouth, and pulled out the Drakesoul, along with Kendra and Warren, who were still holding it.

Kendra and Warren hung onto the Drakesoul, as Navarog dangled it the air. Navarog held the jewel in front of his face, glaring furiously at Kendra and Warren.

"Clever," said Navarog, having reswallowed the Drakesoul. "Very clever. Too bad Vaarf saw that my fairies were missing and came to tell me the bad news. Waking me up when I no longer had the Essence of Immunity wasn't too hard to accomplish."

"You monster!" snarled Kendra.

"Thank you for the compliment," said Navarog. He shook his arm repeatedly, causing both Kendra and Warren to lose their grip on the Drakesoul and go flying across the room in different directions. With the last ounces of their potions still in effect, they both were able to endure the ride.

Looking around the room, the only other monster Kendra could see was Jark. Suddenly, a beam of energy hit Kendra, and she instantly grew back to her full size. Looking forward, she saw Vanessa using it to return Warren back to his normal size.

"I see you brought me a present," said Navarog.

"I got it!" shrieked Jark, as he stuck his tongue out at the Sizshifter and pulled it out of Vanessa's hands.

"Good. Now where's that Essence of Immunity?" asked Navarog, glaring down at the knights. He noticed that Vanessa was rubbing her hand over her bag. "Well then, I guess it's not… YOU!"

Without warning, Navarog unleashed a huge stream of fire directly at Elise. The other knights screamed in terror as the stream came to a halt, revealing that Elise's body had been burned down to her bones.

"Hand over the Essence, Vanessa, or your _boyfriend _gets barbequed."

"Careful, Vanessa," said Tanu. "I don't think their suits can withstand Navarog's fire."

Kendra saw that Jark was approaching Navarog, holding the Sizeshifter in his tongue. She didn't think she could take him, as she didn't have Vasilis on her, but then she remembered her second potion. Kendra quickly pulled it out, gulped it down, and dashed over Jark, tackling him to the ground. As a result, Jark dropped the Sizeshifter.

Kendra felt like a pro wrestler, and was full of pride having pinned a monster like Jark to the floor. "Get off!" he groaned.

"I'd listen to him," said Navarog. "Or do I have to do to you what I did to Elise? Now where'd that Sizeshifter go?"

"Looking for this?" asked Vanessa, waving the instrument in her hand.

"So you're hoarding both instruments, are you?" asked Navarog, reaching down for Vanessa with his claws, "Then I'll just…"

Suddenly a humungous fist went barrelling into Navarog's face with such tremendous force, that the dragon went flying through the wall and fell down the side of the castle. Looking to her side, Kendra saw Warren, now the size of Navarog, standing before her.

"I drank my other strength potion too," said Warren, his voice amplified by his increased size.

"What do we do now?" asked Kendra.

"I don't know," said Tanu. "Navarog will be back any minute, possibly with reinforcements, and when Warren's potion wears off, they could still destroy us."

Kendra gazed at Elise's burned-up corpse, and dreaded having the same fate befall anyone else. She then sulked. "You're right. We should get away from here until we think up a better plan."


	19. Retreat

**Chapter 19 – Retreat**

Aiming the narrow end of the Sizeshifter at Warren, who was at least twenty feet high and still wearing his radiation suit, Vanessa fired it at her fellow knight. A blast of orange energy shot out of the crystal, which encased his entire body and suddenly shrunk him back down to his normal size.

"How do we get out of here?" asked Kendra. "This place is huge, and Navarog'll be back any minute with support."

"We need to formulate a plan," said Tanu, as Vanessa shrunk Elise's remains with the Sizeshifter, while he scooped them into a bag. Geminus was kneeling on the floor nearby, bawling her eyes out.

"I'm so sorry, Geminus," said Kendra, kneeling down next to the fairy.

"I've failed!" she sobbed. "The human I was entrusted to serve has died, and I didn't do a thing to save her!"

"It's not your fault," said Kendra, placing her hand around the fairy's body. "There was nothing you could've done."

"Thank you," sniffed Geminus. "I feel a bit better."

"Should we just hoof it through the castle and hope we make it out alive?" asked Warren.

"I've got a better idea," said a somewhat familiar, tiny voice. The knights turned to the hole in the wall that Navarog had fallen through, and saw the three fairies that had been Navarog's prisoners. "We heard about the commotion here, and came in a hurry!"

"What's your idea?" asked Vanessa.

"Well, there are three of us, and five of your fairy guardians, correct?"

"Correct," said Tanu.

"If there are eight of us fairies, we _could_ get you folks out of here if we combine our power."

"How far could you get us?" asked Kendra.

"To our vehicle, maybe?" asked Geminus. "We can sense where it's parked."

"Good," said one of the other fairies. "Just summon your guardians and we'll be on our way!"

"Guardians!" said Kendra. "Front and center!"

Bright, Clover, Opal and Tiara instantly appeared before Kendra.

"These fairies are willing to warp us out of here with your help. Can you get us back to the car?"

"Can do!" said Bright. "Everyone stand next to each other and we can get moving!"

Kendra, Warren, Tanu and Vanessa arranged themselves in a circular formation, when they heard heavy footsteps approaching from the hallway.

"Hurry!" gasped Kendra.

All eight fairies flew around the four knights in a repetitious circle, enveloping them in a multi-colored glow of energy. Just as the footsteps were about to enter the doorway to the room, the knights and the fairies all vanished.

The fairies and knights reappeared outdoors next to the parked SUV, which was a considerable walking distance from the castle. The fairies, who were at first still spinning around, soon slowed down and came to a stop. It appeared to nearly be sunset at this point.

"Thanks a million," said Warren, as he began to take off his radiation suit.

"You're welcome," replied one of the other fairies. "You saved us, so we were indebted to save you!"

"Oh no!" gasped one of the other fairies. "Weren't there five of you?"

"My human was incinerated," said Geminus abruptly. "We managed to recover the Essence of Immunity that Navarog forced you to charge up, but lost a life in the process."

"We're so sorry," said the three fairies, all with saddened looks on their faces.

"Yet Navarog still has the Drakesoul," said Warren.

"We were _so_ close, too!" whined Kendra, who too had taken off her suit by this point.

"We'll get it someday," stated Warren. "But we really shouldn't stay here any longer."

The fairies bid the knights farewell and flew off. The knights then climbed into the SUV and proceeded to drive back to Reykjavik.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Kendra. She was looking down at her cupped palms, which Geminus was sitting in, looking miserable.

"I propose that we just get back to Fablehaven and sort things out with your Grandparents," said Tanu. "This has been a very tragic day."

"First Seth, now Elise," moaned Warren, his head leaning against the passenger seat window.

"We'll get Seth back," said Kendra insistently. "I'm never going to give up. And when we get all five instruments, we can wish Elise back to life."

"I'm afraid not," said Vanessa. "Remember that the combined instruments are reportedly incapable of reviving the dead. I've theorized that this limitation was intentional, given the seemingly endless power these jewels can provide."

"I barely even got to know her!" sobbed Geminus, as Kendra gently patted her head.

"You've got to tell us," exclaimed Warren, "what happened while Kendra and I were trying to retrieve the Drakesoul?"

"Well, Vaarf, the so-called guard whom we walked passed on our way into the castle, went to check on the fairies and saw that they were gone," began Tanu. "He came rushing to report to Navarog that his fairy captives had escaped. When he came to Navarog's room and saw what we were up to, all hell broke loose. Vaarf immediately unleashed this loud wailing that woke up all the other monsters. They took us by surprise. Vanessa managed to scare some of them off by shrinking a few monsters, but it didn't work on Jark, since he's immune to magic."

"Why'd Navarog wake up so quickly?" asked Kendra.

"Avanta ripped the hose out of Navarog's mouth," answered Vanessa. "And since a powerful dragon like Navarog requires a consistent flow of sleeping formula to stay asleep, he was able to wake up on the spot."

"We thought you were goners," said Tanu. "It's a miracle that you two made it out of Navarog alive."

"But not Elise," said Kendra. "If only we'd have gotten the Drakesoul away from Navarog, we could've prevented that. Come to think of it, if we hadn't have even helped those fairies, Vaarf wouldn't have alerted Navarog. We wouldn't have gotten caught, we'd have the Drakesoul, Elise would still be alive, and Seth would be human again."

"At least Warren got to sock it to Navarog," said Vanessa hesitantly.

"It felt wrong," said Warren. "After I hit him, I felt bad for the fact that I was hurting Seth as well. He's been suffering all this time, and any pain Navarog feels, he feels as well."

Tears filled everyone's eyes. Although they at least managed to escape with the Essence of Immunity, the mission was not completed fully. The fact that they even had the Essence of Immunity seemed irrelevant compared to the fact that Navarog was still at large with the Drakesoul .

After a seemingly extra-long and dreary plane ride back to New York, the remaining Knights of the Dawn were picked up by Mr. Sorenson. Mr. Sorenson may have been informed of Elise's death before hand, but was still filled with distraught upon meeting up with the Knights at the airport.

Upon returning to Fablehaven, the four Knights of the Dawn all opted to nap for most of the day, due to the arduous ordeal that they had been through. Several hours later, Mrs. Sorenson woke Kendra up, prompting her to come down for dinner.

As Kendra sat down in her seat, she noticed that Agad was sitting on the other end of the table. Acknowledging the fact that Kendra was not in the best state of mind, he greeted her with a simple hand gesture, to which Kendra nodded in response. Before eating, a moment a silence was given for Elise's unfortunate demise.

The dinner that Mrs. Sorenson had prepared was her special three-cheese casserole, which was Kendra's favorite home-made meal. However, even it was unable to ease her feeling of melancholy. After dinner, the diners migrated to the living room, as Grandpa wanted to discuss the situation at hand.

"The latest mission performed by the Knights of the Dawn has been both a success and a failure," began Grandpa, sitting in his armchair. "Although one instrument of eternal power, the Essence of Immunity, was safely recovered from the bowels of Navarog, the Drakesoul still remains in his possession. Additionally, Elise Nelson tragically lost her life during this ordeal."

"What are we going to do?" asked Kendra worriedly.

"Well, we've contacted Elise's family, and they've been making arrangements for her funeral. It's a shame, but nothing can be done about what's happened."

"Looking forward," said Tanu, "we'll be looking for a replacement for Elise. Even though we are to keep this operation low-profile, it's best we keep our numbers up to par."

"What about Navarog?" asked Vanessa. "I imagine that he still holds the Drakesoul, but won't he anticipate that we can find and attempt to get it back from him again?"

"He'll likely have upped security," noted Grandma.

"I know!" exclaimed Warren. "Maybe, since we've been inside Navarog already, Kendra and I could use the Translocator to teleport inside his stomach, nab the Drakesoul, and warp out?"

"I don't know if the instruments can be affected by the artifacts, as we know that they cannot be used on one another," said Agad. "Transporting the Drakesoul via the Translocator might not work."

"Kendra, perhaps you could use the Occulus again, just to check on Navarog?" suggested Grandma.

"I… guess," said Kendra, as Agad presented her with the Occulus.

Kendra cupped the Occulus in her palms and immediately focused on Navarog. Almost instantly, the draconic demon prince came into view. He was lying down in a room somewhere in his castle, surrounded by Raze, Jark and Avanta. What caught Kendra's attention was that ice appeared to have been bandaged to his snout where Warren had socked him. Kendra almost felt happy to see him like this, but couldn't forget that he had just incinerated her ally.

Kendra then focused on the Drakesoul, allowing her view to shift inside Navarog's stomach again. Upon homing in on the Drakesoul, she saw several little humanoid creatures wading in the stomach acid. They were all brown with wrinkly skin, grey hair, pointy noses plus long teeth and nails. What really creeped Kendra out was that the creatures were alive and moving. Kendra quickly ended her vision, dropping the Occulus in disgust.

"What's wrong, Kendra?" asked Agad.

"Navarog had these… little imp things in his stomach! And they were alive!"

"Were they, by chance, brownish, with white hair?" asked Vanessa.

"Yes, actually."

"Sounds like Grovelins," said Vanessa. "Those things are small, but very resilient and vicious. No doubt an attempt to further protect the Drakesoul should we attempt to steal it again."

Grandpa clapped his hands. "I propose that we leave the Drakesoul alone for now. Our only chance of retrieving it seems to be through brute force at this point. However, we risk hurting Seth if we cut Navarog open to extract the Drakesoul. He'd turn back into Seth still with a huge gash in his stomach."

"Why go after it last?" asked Dale.

"Because if the Knights grab the Drakesoul when they already have the other four instruments, they can put them together and wish for Seth to be healed on the spot. As risky as this seems, it may be the only solution to this mess."

"So, where to next?" asked Warren.

"Our only feasible option at this point would be to recover the Disapirit from Pileus Palace, seeing as how we still have no real leads on the whereabouts of the Accelerizer."

"No!" said Mrs. Sorenson in a stern voice rising to her feet.

"Marla is right," said Mr. Sorenson, standing next to his wife. "We can't keep endangering Kendra any longer."

"What?" gasped Kendra, whose face resembled a deer caught in the headlights.

"We're sorry, dear," said Mrs. Sorenson, "But that last trip you went on cost someone their life. What if it had been you instead of Elise?"

Kendra's parents both began to cry and proceeded to hug their daughter. She hugged them both back in response.

"Mom, Dad," said Kendra. "I'm doing this for all of us. And Seth."

"We've already lost one child so far," said Mr. Sorenson.

"First we were led to believe that you had died in your sleep," sobbed Mrs. Sorenson. "Then the society abducted us, and for months, we still believed that you had been dead. Later we learn that Seth had been possessed by Navarog and has not been in control of his body! And he's gone too!"

Grandma handed Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson several tissues, which they used to dry their tears.

"Mom, Dad," said Kendra. "The Knights of the Dawn _need_ me in order to retrieve the remaining instruments of eternal power. If we can recover the other three, I just know that we can stop Navarog and save Seth."

"Poor Seth," said Mr. Sorenson. "I know that he's alive within Navarog, but we don't even know how he feels!"

"Let me try something," said Kendra, as her parents released her from their hug. She then picked up the Occulus and let her mind focus. She had one thing in mind. Not Navarog, but her brother Seth. If the Occulus really could let her see anything, maybe it could let her see Seth.

Once again, Navarog appeared before Kendra. Not one to give up hope, Kendra concentrated entirely on Seth. It may have been Navarog's body and mind, but her brother's soul was still trapped, wasn't it?

Kendra's vision faded again. To her shock, she saw Seth, as a human, floating in a white void. Was it really him? Honing in on her brother, Kendra saw that he was cowering; his eyes and cheeks were red and swollen from crying so much. He then shook his head for a few seconds, then stopped.

"SETH!" shouted Kendra, only to receive no response. Her brother completely ignored her cry, for he couldn't so much as detect her presence.

"SETH! SETH! It's me! Kendra!"

Kendra began to cry, dropping the Occulus in the process and losing her vision of Seth.

"Kendra!" gasped Mr. Sorenson. "Did you see Seth?"

Kendra nodded and explained was she had just seen to everyone.

"It would appear that the Occulus was able to show you Seth in his true form, despite the fact that physically, he is currently part of Navarog," said Agad.

"Seth wants nothing more than to be free from Navarog," said Kendra. "Everything that Navarog does, Seth probably experiences. Even though it wasn't his fault, he must feel horrible after killing off Elise."

"But for now," said Grandpa, "our best bet is to find a suitable replacement for Elise and pursue after the Disapirit. However, since the vault is located in the sky, we may need some additional help in this situation. I suggest that we seek further assistance from the Fairy Queen before pressing on."

"Let us not forget that Navarog and Raze talked about how the monsters they sent to Pileus Palace never returned," said Warren. "If we're not careful, we may share their fate."

Kendra turned to face her parents. "Mom, Dad. I don't care how dangerous this quest turns out to be. I vow to restore Seth, no matter what may stand in our way."


	20. Fairy Dragons

**Chapter 20: Fairy Dragons**

The following afternoon, Kendra was relaxing on an inflatable recliner in the center of Fablehaven's swimming pool. Wearing nothing but a hot pink bathing suit and matching sunglasses to shield her otherwise shut eyes; Kendra was simply resting, allowing the warmth of the sun's rays to gleam down upon her weary body. Curled up in a tiny recliner next to her was Bright, who was relaxing in a similar fashion.

"I'm kinda thirsty," said Kendra. Without giving any verbal response, Bright waved her hand at the drink holder in the arm of Kendra's recliner, allowing a glass of lemonade, complete with ice cubes, a straw and a cocktail umbrella to material in it.

"Thank you," said Kendra, as she grabbed the drink and sipped it through the straw. "I really needed this rest."

Just then, Kendra could hear footsteps and laughter. She dropped her glass into the pool, spilling her beverage, and looked around frantically. "Seth?" she gasped. "Seth?"

"Wrong number," answered Warren's voice from behind. Kendra listened as he leapt into the pool, mildly splashing her from afar. He was then followed by a second splash. Warren then walked around in front of Kendra, as did Vanessa. Floating beside them was Clover, but strangely, not Opal.

"Who did you think we were? asked Vanessa "Seth?"

"Me, I could almost understand," said Warren. "But _Vanessa_? No offense or anything."

Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"This just reminded me of something," said Kendra, sliding her sunglasses onto her scalp. "For some reason, I just thought that Seth was here, coming to play a joke on me. You know how little brothers can be."

"Not from your perspective," said Warren. "I'm the youngest in my family."

"And I'm an only child," added Vanessa.

"Were you thinking of the incident where Seth got turned into a donkey?" asked Warren.

"Yup. After seeing his true self trapped within Navarog yesterday, I can't stop thinking about him. And that pool incident was peculiar. It was the last time that Seth might've been, well_, normal_. Right after the whole donkey thing, you guys returned from Living Mirage with the tome, and Seth just wasn't the same after that."

"I thought Navarog told you that he'd been possessing Seth for weeks before acquiring the Drakesoul," stated Vanessa.

"Yes, but even until then he was able to maintain some level of sensibility. Once the tome was brought here, and I translated it, Seth just wasn't the same. It was as if Navarog had Seth on autopilot until the tome was brought back."

"Vanessa," asked Bright, who was with Clover, "where's Opal? Is she still grieving over Elise with Geminus?"

"No," answered Vanessa. "Opal isn't as, how should I put this- _energetic_, as you or Clover. She's more disciplined and refined, if you want my opinion."

"Too bad for her," said Clover. "She should get off her high horse. Get to embrace being a fairy. Look at Geminus, I bet she regrets not being closer to Elise. She just returned to the shrine when we got back."

"Maybe I should invite Opal," said Vanessa.

"Kendra didn't have to invite me," said Bright. "It's more enjoyable when you aren't forced into coming. Let Opal decide for herself. We fairies aren't stupid."

Vanessa rubbed her head in confusion and then shook it. "Whatever you say."

After cooling off in the swimming pool for a while, Kendra, Warren and Vanessa got dressed up and headed back inside. They walked into Grandpa's study, where the man himself was chatting on the phone with someone. Not wanting to eavesdrop, Grandpa asked them to wait for him in the living room.

A few minutes later, Grandpa exited his study and entered the living room, where he sat down in his armchair.

"So, how're things going?" asked Kendra.

"There's been so much commotion, lately," replied Grandpa. "I've been talking to Trask, and I've got bad news, good news, and more bad news. Where should I start?"

"Bad News the First," answered Warren.

"Well, the first bad news is that we've had no volunteers amongst the Knights of the Dawn willing to take Elise's place."

"Why not?" asked Kendra.

"Too scared, I suppose. As much as we've been trying to keep this mission low-profile, Elise's death started and uproar amongst our kin. Now they're all being overly cautious towards this whole thing. Hopefully someone will come aboard."

"What's the good news?" asked Vanessa, as Grandpa turned to face her.

"I've put in an inquiry to the Fairy Queen about offering us assistance in reaching Pileus Palace, and she's in the middle of recruiting help. If we're lucky, she'll find someone soon!"

"That's great!" exclaimed Kendra. "It might even be Bracken! Whoever it is, I can't wait to meet them! "

"Same here," said Grandpa. "But that brings us to the other bad news, sorry to say. And that is that Trask is still in London, going on a wild goose chase trying to find some concrete information about the fifth vault."

"Had he made any progress?" asked Warren.

"Nothing significant. He either runs into dead ends or keeps going around in circles. If the location of the Accelerizer's vault isn't even in the tome like the others, there must be something fishy going on."

"I couldn't even find the thing when I used the Occulus," said Kendra. "They must've hidden it _really_ well if even the Occulus can't detect it."

"Maybe it's in another dimension," said Warren. "It'd be ironic if it was in the knapsack this whole time. Mind you, I would've found it at some point."

"Wherever it is, Trask will tell us the minute he gets a real lead. His search won't be in vain, but it won't be easy either."

"Are we going to travel to Pileus Palace soon?" asked Kendra.

"Next week," said Grandpa. "Your parents, Ruth and I all feel its best that you knights take it easy for a few days. Ever since Vertigo Volcano, you've been hot on the trail for the instruments."

"But what about Seth?" asked Kendra.

"Sadly, there's nothing we can really do about him for now. Even if you're successful in recovering the Disapirit, we'd still have to wait for Trask to uncover the location of the Accelerizer. He's been looking ever since you first translated the tome, but this whole thing is still unclear to us."

"Besides," said Warren, "it's unlikely that Navarog is going to get a hold of those instruments any time soon. It's not a race like it was for the Sizeshifter or the Essence of Immunity. Until we can get our hands on both the Disapirit and the Accelerizer, we're more or less in a stalemate against Navarog. Thing is, we've kinda got the upper hand in terms of instruments."

"I don't care about collecting instruments anymore," said Kendra, standing up and throwing her arms around Warren. "I just want Seth back."

* * *

For the next few days, the crew at Fablehaven opted to kick back and relax. As crucial as saving Seth was, it was important to everyone's mental health that they take it easy. Kendra missed her brother, but contemplated over the fact that ultimately helping him would require an item that was currently impossible to get a hold of.

The knights all attended Elise's funeral, which turned out a very saddening experience for everyone. In Kendra's mind, it just wasn't fair that Navarog had chosen to kill her. It was the worst part about being associated with the Knights of the Dawn; sometimes teammates would lose their lives, not unlike soldiers in the army. Kendra noticed that Geminus had followed them to the funeral home, but the fairy had kept out of line from her the entire time, as well as when they returned home.

The following day, Kendra was woken up by heavy knocking on the door to her attic. Upon opening her eyes and feeling rather groggy, Kendra yawned loudly. "Come in."

Footsteps climbed the stairs, and Dale emerged at the top. "Good morning, Kendra."

"Yes, Dale?"

"Get dressed. Your Grandfather had a big surprise for you after you eat breakfast."

Before Kendra could ask another question, Dale spun around and darted back down the stairs. Her curiosity brewing, Kendra anticipated in knowing what surprise Dale could have been talking about. She quickly got dressed, washed up, and headed down to the kitchen table.

As soon as Kendra sat down, Grandma immediately plopped a plate of scrambled eggs, hash browns and ham down in front of her. "Eat now, ask questions later," she said.

Kendra wolfed down her breakfast, even though she normally ate at a much slower pace, and washed it all down with a glass of orange juice. She had never wanted to finish her breakfast so eagerly before.

"Dale said Grandpa had a surprise for me," said Kendra, wiping her lips with her napkin.

"Not just for you, but for all of the knights," said Grandpa. "I didn't want you sleeping in and slacking off today, or any later day."

"Why's that?"

"We won't have time to keep goofing off," said Warren. "But we received word from the Fairy Queen. Help is available for us now."

"Really?" asked Kendra. "I hope it's Bracken! And Raxtus! I know them so well!"

"We don't know who it is yet," said Vanessa. "We're just supposed to head out to the shrine and meet up with the Fairy Queen there."

After finishing up breakfast, Kendra, Warren, Vanessa and Tanu all ventured out of the house and treaded over towards the naiad's pond. Grandpa, Grandma, Dale, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson all followed them there.

Still standing there was the rainbow bridge arcing over the water that was created by the Fairy Queen from their previous visit. As they approached the edge of the bridge, several naiads stuck their heads out of the water, all looking rather annoyed.

As the four Knights stepped onto the bridge, Mrs. Sorenson attempted to follow them, but was immediately grabbed by Dale. "No," he said sternly. "I'm sorry but you have no business with the fairies. You would've passed through the rainbow bridge and been drowned by the naiads.

Mrs. Sorenson looked down at her feet and saw that one of them was passing through the end of the rainbow bridge as if it wasn't even there. She quickly backed away from the pond.

The four knights all walked up towards the shrine, prompting their fairy guardians to all appear without being summoned. The shrine glowed brightly, and standing before them were both the Fairy Queen and Bracken.

"Greetings, all!" said the Fairy Queen with a proud smile.

"How's it goin'?" smiled Bracken, who was currently wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He stuck out his hands and gave five to both Kendra and Warren.

"It's nice to see you again," said Tanu.

"Thank you," said the Fairy Queen. "However, I'd much prefer it if we dropped the small talk and focused at the matter at hand. You're here for your new recruits."

"Whoever they are," said Warren with a smug look on his face.

"I believe they need no introduction," said Bracken. "But brace yourself for… Raxtus!"

Another flash of light appeared, and standing before them was the diminutive fairy dragon himself, Raxtus.

"Hey everybody!" said Raxtus pleasantly, waddling over to the knights. He placed his claws over Kendra and Warren's shoulders. "It's nice to see you all again!"

"A dragon," said Tanu. "Especially one we can trust. Very impressive. It will be great working with Raxtus again."

"Are you going to take us to Pileus Palace, then?" asked Vanessa.

"Not all of you. I've managed to fly up to three humans at once before, but any more would really be pushing it.

"Maybe we could get a lift up there, like from Aaron Stone?" suggested Kendra.

"His services would be impractical once we entered the vault," said Warren. "As great a knight that he is, Aaron's strictly a pilot with limited adventuring skills."

"All right then," said Kendra. "Who else will be accompanying us?"

"This next volunteer needs no introduction," said Bracken with a grin.

Kendra's eyes lit up, "Please say it's you!" she said in her mind.

Another flash of light appeared, and when it faded, it revealed another dragon. This one was pink; similar in size and appearance to Raxtus.

"Hey everybody!" said the dragon in a high, cheery voice. She sounded familiar, but Kendra never recalled meeting this dragon before.

"Who are you?" asked Kendra. "Bracken said you needed no introduction."

Bracken chuckled. "Maybe not an introduction. But definitely an explanation."

"I'm Geminus," said the dragon.

The knights' mouths all dropped together in awe.

"Where do I begin," said Geminus. "Well, after we returned from Iceland, I was so devastated by Elise's death that I retreated to the fairy realm and sulked. I later explained my situation to the Fairy Queen, but she told me that my mission was not a failure, so long as I agreed to help you knights further in your quest. I was ultimately transformed into a fairy dragon like Raxtus here, so that I could assist you on your journey to Pileus Palace."

"Bright did you know about this?" asked Kendra, noticing her fairy's proud face.

Bright smirked. "Maybe. I wasn't supposed to tell you, though, in case things didn't work out."

"So you're a bona-fide fairy dragon now?" asked Vanessa.

"That's correct," said Geminus. "It's powerful magic, and I am incapable of reverting to my old form under my own influence. However, I'm willing to make this sacrifice because I feel that I can be of a greater use to you this way now that Elise is gone."

"Anyone else?" asked Kendra to the Fairy Queen.

"I'm afraid not. But I believe that these two dragon recruits will be valuable assets to your adventure in Pileus Palace. Now that you've recovered from Elise's death and because Geminus has become accustomed to her new body, you should be ready to head out for Pileus Palace today."

"My mother and I must get going now," said Bracken. "We still have a lot of work to do on our end."

Warren, Vanessa and Tanu all waved goodbye to the Fairy Queen and Bracken. However, Kendra just stared down at the ground, looking disappointed. Bracken quickly hustled over to Kendra and gave her a hug.

"Bracken," said Kendra. "Please come with us. We need all the help we can get, and I miss you."

"Believe me," said Bracken, "I'd love to go, but restoring the Fairy Kingdom is my top priority. You know that."

Kendra nodded.

"Look at it this way," said Bracken. "If you succeed in recovering all five of the instruments, you can wish me back into a proper unicorn again. I'd still be able to revert to a human at will."

"But- your third horn, it's the Font of Immortality!"

"So?" asked Bracken. "I'll get a new horn through the wish! The Font of Immortality will be fine."

Kendra smiled. "I'll see what we can do."

"I'm really counting on you," said Bracken sincerely. "I'm a unicorn at heart. I gave up my third horn nobly, knowing that I'd never be the same from that point onwards. But I'd give anything to walk on four legs again."

Bracken let go off Kendra and back up towards the shrine next to his mother, waving goodbye. "Good luck everyone. See you later, Bright!"

In a flash of light, the two of them vanished, returning to the Fairy Kingdom.


	21. Takeoff

**Chapter 21 – Takeoff**

Kendra was sitting in the living room at Fablehaven, her packed bag plopped next to her on the floor. In her hands were the two instruments of eternal power that the Knights of the Dawn currently possessed; the Sizeshifter and the Essence of Immunity.

Kendra held the two instruments side by side, until she felt a strange force attempting to pull their bases together, not unlike a magnet. The instruments tilted, until they were on an angle, and suddenly snapped together. The Sizeshifter and Essence of Immunity were now seamlessly bonded together at an angle. Looking closely, the instruments appeared to be forming two points of star.

Warren walked in, carrying his packed bag. "Kendra, what are you doing with those?"

"I didn't mean to!" exclaimed Kendra. "They just sorta snapped together like this! You think they're stuck?"

Warren grabbed the Essence of Immunity, taking the conjoined Sizeshifter along with it. "I see what you mean. This _is_ how all five instruments are supposed to attach to one another in order to form the Omega Star, but what's the point if we've only got two?"

Warren gripped an instrument in each hand and then pulled the two of them apart, as if they had never been connected in the first place. "That wasn't so hard."

"You think it's safe to bring these things to Pileus Palace?" asked Kendra, watching as Warren placed the two instruments into a bag. You overheard them talking about anticipating us at the vault. Why should we put our instruments on the line as well?"

"Our only advantage is that we know they'll likely be there," said Warren. "However, they don't know that we know that they don't know when we're coming. If they succeed in obtaining our instruments, their total will jump up to three."

"Four if we're successful in recovering the Disapirit and they manage to nab it as well," added Kendra. "That's if they make their move after we actually _get_ the instrument."

"_If_ we get the instrument," said Warren. "Pileus Palace is full of monsters I bet. This place is supposed to a heavily-guarded vault, not a playground."

"I just don't know if we should bring these instruments," said Kendra. "I know that they're extremely useful, but we risk losing them."

"Stan suggested that we bring them, but only use them if the situation calls for it," said Warren. "But you _are_ giving me that sinking feeling that Navarog's cronies will show up and try to steal them. But your grandfather _is_ the Captain of the Knights. So if we do lose them, I guess he's partially responsible."

Tanu then entered the living room with Vanessa, "Are you two all ready to go?"

"I guess so," said Kendra nervously.

Tanu led Kendra, Warren and Vanessa outside to the garden, where Raxtus and Geminus were waiting for them. Both of the fairy dragons had reigns, ropes and saddles strapped to them, not unlike the kinds used on horses.

"You guys ready?" asked Raxtus. "Dale was nice enough to prep the two of us up for this next adventure."

"You bet," answered Warren.

"Where are we supposed to be going?" asked Geminus, staring at the clouds. "I know that Pileus Palace is in the sky, but where? The sky's a pretty large place!"

"We've had to do a bit of additional research in order to find an answer," said Tanu. "But it wasn't very hard to figure out, especially if Navarog or his underlings got there themselves."

"So, where is it?" asked Raxtus.

"The thing is, Pileus Palace soars high above the surface of the Earth. Its location shifts constantly to avoid unwanted detection, despite the fact that it's already protected by a distractor spell. Fortunately, it follows a pattern depending on the time of year. As of today's date, its coordinates should be somewhere over the South Atlantic near Namibia, if my calculations are correct."

"We could probably get you guys there by tomorrow morning," said Raxtus. "You ready?"

"I suppose we are," said Tanu, as he loaded his bag onto Geminus' back. "Join me Vanessa. Kendra, I want you and Warren to ride on Raxtus, given that you've worked together in the past."

"It's like he read our minds," said Warren, as Kendra climbed onto Raxtus' back. He then got on as well and sat behind her. Looking over at Geminus, Vanessa seated herself on her back, with Tanu sitting behind her.

"All right," said Tanu. "Is everybody ready?" The others all responded by saying yes. "Then let's get going!"

Grandpa, Grandma, Dale, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson, who were all standing from outside garden, waved goodbye and wished them good luck. As Raxtus and Geminus began flapping their wings, the knights and dragons gave their goodbyes in return.

"Here we go!" said Geminus, as she proceeded to flap her wings, until her entire body lifted itself up into the air.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" laughed Warren, as Raxtus rose into the air and took off into the sky ahead of Geminus.

Kendra held on to Raxtus' reigns tightly as the dragon soared upwards into the sky. It had been a while since she'd last ridden on Raxtus, but the thrill came rushing back to her. Looking back, Kendra and Warren could see that Geminus and her riders were trailing behind them.

"Slow down, Raxtus!" exclaimed Kendra, as they raced across the clouds. "Give Geminus some leeway. She's new at this!"

"You'd be bogged down too," said Warren, "if you had to lug Tanu around on your back."

"Warren!"

"Just sayin'."

Raxtus decreased his speed, allowing Geminus enough time to catch up with them.

"Don't stray too far," said Tanu. "We don't want to risk getting separated, even if we both have directions as to where we should be going. But in case we ever _do_ get separated, the plan is to return to Fablehaven if we fail to find one another after searching for an hour."

"Wanna take the scenic route?" asked Raxtus, after flying away from Geminus, but still staying within eyesight of the other group.

"Just as long as the scenic route doesn't get us lost," said Kendra with a wicked grin.

"Then hold on tight!" laughed Raxtus, as he swooped down through a cloudbank. He went spiralling down towards Earth, heading towards a forest. Kendra and Warren braced themselves, as Raxtus dove between a clearing of trees at full speed, then decking down into a wide canyon, before coming to the end and swerving back up into the sky. Back above the clouds, they soon met up with Geminus again.

"Showoff," said Geminus, as she soared over next to Raxtus before drifting aside, keeping her eyes on him.

Several hours later, the sun had started to set and everyone was beginning to feel hungry. Tanu requested that they land and find a place to stop for the night. Raxtus and Geminus both soared down from the sky, approaching the ocean that waited beneath them.

"Where are we?" asked Kendra.

"Assuming we've stuck to our route, this should be the Caribbean Sea," answered Warren.

"Puerto Rico should be coming up soon," said Tanu.

In mere moments, a large island came into view, which the two dragons landed at. The island was indeed Puerto Rico, where the knights stopped for dinner and spent the night at a hotel. In the morning, they ate a quick breakfast and were soon back in the air, en route to Pileus Palace.

After flying for several more hours, an enormous, temple-like building could be seen floating amongst the clouds.

"There it is!" exclaimed Kendra, pointing to the golden structure, which greatly resembled a parthenon. From a glance, the architecture of Pileus Palace had a Greek influence, which seemed logical, given the brief backstory that had been written in the tome.

"We're almost there!" said Raxtus.

"Where is it?" asked Tanu, cupping his hand over his brow.

"Don't you see it, Tanu?" asked Geminus.

"I don't either," added Vanessa.

"Me three," said Warren.

"Hold it!" shouted Tanu, pulling back on Geminus' reigns, giving her the signal to stop in midair. Raxtus quickly took note and flew back to Geminus.

"Kendra and the dragons all claim to be able to see the vault," said Tanu. Yet Vanessa, Warren and I claim not to. Must be the distractor spell."

"It doesn't affect us," said Geminus. "Why should we stop if we're carrying you guys anyway?"

"The spell's trying to repel us," said Warren. "But in this case, there's nothing it can do to stop our rides. Press on, dragons!"

The dragons continued flying forwards, until they were literally only several yards away from a wall of Pileus Palace.

"Where is this place?" asked Vanessa, looking confused. "I can't see it!"

"It's right here!" groaned Geminus. "Look, I'll fly right up to the wall, and you can see for yourself!"

Geminus flew next to a wall, made up entirely of massive columns, and placed her claw upon it. Still confused, Vanessa placed her hand against the wall as well.

"It's- it's- it's invisible," gasped Vanessa, her hand resting against the column.

"That explains a lot," said Warren, "even though we got past the distractor spell. A similar magic is preventing ordinary eyes from even seeing the vault."

"This could be dangerous," said Tanu. "If Vanessa, Warren and I are unable to even see the vault, we'll be at a huge disadvantage overcoming any obstacles within."

"It's a risk we'll just have to take," said Warren. "Now let's go to the entrance, wherever that is."

"Down this way," said Raxtus, as he led the group around the side of the stadium-sized vault. Before they could reach the actual entrance, several familiar monsters flew out of it. As the vault was invisible, it concealed everything within it until it left the boundaries, including living beings.

"Look who it is!" said Raze, hovering in the air next to his fellow monsters. "Those Knights of the Dawn finally decided to show themselves."

Kendra's heart was pounding violently. She figured that Navarog's monsters would be waiting for them, but wasn't expecting their entrance to be so abrupt.

"You think they have the other two instruments?" asked Jark.

"Only one way to find out," said Raze, drawing a sword in both of his upper arms.

A large, floating, black serpent with elongated horns slithered up to Kendra and grabbed her with his tail, ripping her from Raxtus' reigns. As Vasilis was still in its sheath, Kendra was unable to draw the sword from her back.

"Help!" cried Kendra, struggling to climb out of the serpent's grasp. To make things worse, the rest of the monsters were surrounding Raxtus and Geminus. Warren drew his sword, while Vanessa readied a crossbow, but they were all overwhelmed by the intimidating monsters.

"Ssssomeone give me a hand!" hissed the serpent. "I think thissss Kendra perssson hasss the inssstrumentsss in her bag!"

"I'll give ya four," said Raze, flying over to the serpent, leaving the other four monsters with the knights. He reached against Kendra's compressed shoulder and pulled out the bag that contained the two instruments. "Got 'em!"

"What ssshould I do with the girl?" asked the serpent.

"Do I care?" asked Raze. "I don't wanna babysit this brat, so drop her if you like."

The serpent released his grip on Kendra, allowing her to plummet to the clouds below.

"FAIRIES!" screamed Kendra almost instinctively. "HELP!"

Bright, Clover, Opal and Tiara all appeared by Kendra, and encased her body in a magic glow, allowing her to rise upwards.

"So fly," said Raze, reaching into the bag. "I already got what I wanted."

Without any warning, Warren leapt onto Raze's back and ripped the bag out of Raze's hand. He then leapt back onto Raxtus' back, who flew back down to Kendra, and she jumped on as well.

"Get them!" yelled Raze. "Jark, Zelantor and I go after Kendra!" "The rest of you chase the other group!"

Raxtus weaved back and forth, trying to avoid the attacks of Raze, Jark and the floating serpent. "What do we do now?" he cried.

"Are you forgetting what we just went through?" asked Warren. "I'll shrink 'em with the Sizeshifter!"

Warren aimed the narrow end of the Sizeshifter at the trio of monsters, but Raxtus' shaky course made aiming difficult, causing all of Warren's shots to miss.

"I can take the hits," said Jark, as he flew up to a beam, seamlessly absorbing it.

"I think we need a better plan," muttered Warren.

"And I've got one," said Kendra, grabbing the Sizeshifter from Warren's grasp.

"You think you're any faster on the draw?" asked Warren.

Ignoring Warren, Kendra shot the Sizeshifter at Raxtus, causing the platinum dragon to grow massively in size, until he was easily the size of a city block from his head to the tip of his tail. Feeling ever so confident, Raxtus turned around in midair, glancing back at his three pursuers.

"Any more ideasss?" asked Zelantor to Raze, who was trembling in fear.

"L-l-let's get outta here!" cried Raze, as he Jark and Zelantor made a sudden retreat. Within moments, Geminus came flying up to where Raxtus was, scaring off the monsters that were chasing her in the process.

"Serves you right!" Geminus shouted at the fleeing monsters.

"A non-violent way of solving the problem," said Tanu proudly. "How noble."

"Yeah, those jerks will think twice before going after us again!" laughed Raxtus in a very heavy voice. Kendra and Warren could feel his entire body vibrating heavily as he spoke.

"I think I'll shrink you back to normal," said Kendra, as she used the Sizeshifter to reduce Raxtus back down to his normal size.

"You think they're gone?" asked Vanessa.

"I don't really wanna find out," answered Warren. "Let's just get through Pileus Palace, grab the Disapirit, and be on our way before they devise a better plan."

"Easier said than done," said Vanessa. "We know for a fact that this vault is extremely dangerous. "

Soon enough, Raxtus and Geminus flew back to the entrance of Pileus Palace. Although Warren, Vanessa and Tanu could not see it, they were currently standing on the front steps off the vault. Atop the steps were two large, stone doors, which served as the entrance.

"So this is it," said Tanu. "We're ready to finally topple Pileus Palace. "However, I feel that we should resort to a buddy system for this expedition, as not all of us can even so much as see the vault, and because our Fairy Guardians need to recover somewhat after saving Kendra. Kendra, I want you to go with Warren. I'll be with Raxtus, and Vanessa, you go with Geminus."

"Agreed," said the others, as they walked up the steps to the large, front doors. Looking up at them, Kendra swallowed her fear as they prepared to venture inside of Pileus Palace.


	22. Pileus Palace

**Chapter 22: Pileus Palace**

The massive, stone doors of Pileus Palace swung open, revealing what appeared to be a vast, stone chamber. However, only Kendra, Raxtus and Geminus were capable of seeing it. To Warren, Vanessa and Tanu, the entire vault was invisible to their eyes, even on the interior. It mattered not that they had consumed magical milk earlier that day; the vault would not reveal itself to them.

"It's almost like we're flying," said Vanessa, staring down at the floor, which was completely transparent from her perspective.

"Believe it or not, we're walking on air," Warren said jokingly.

"Why can't you guys see this place?" asked Kendra. "I know you have no connections to fairies, but you still drank the milk."

"Must be an enchantment of this palace," said Tanu. "It would be too easy to spot for anyone who had access to the milk. Thank goodness fairies and their kin can see it."

"Could you describe this place to us?" asked Warren, looking around, only to see nothing but the surrounding sky.

"Well," began Kendra, "it's like an old, Greek temple, I guess you could say. There's pillars scattered about. The prominent colors appear to be mostly gold and marble."

"Are there any holes in the floor we should watch out for?" asked Tanu.

"Not that I can see," answered Raxtus. "But there could be illusionary floors for all we know."

"We'll watch out for everything," added Geminus.

Kendra grabbed Warren's hand, and led the way to a corridor at one end of the room. She tried to imagine as if the entire place were invisible to her, if only to get an idea of how Warren, Vanessa and Tanu saw everything.

"This is weird. The tome never actually said that this place was invisible."

"It's a good thing that it _is_ invisible," noted Vanessa. "With the advent of technology, people would've ultimately discovered a building like this floating through the sky, even with distractor spells. I mean, the preserves and whatnot aren't invisible, but at least they're overlooked by the sheer fact that they're part of the landscape."

"The distractor spells help too," noted Warren. "Imagine if planes crashed into this place, not knowing what it is."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't make our job any easier," said Tanu, climbing onto Raxtus' back. "Vanessa, maybe you should rise atop Geminus."

Warren watched as Vanessa climbed onto Geminus' back, and then glanced at Kendra with a smirk. "Don't worry. I don't need a piggyback ride."

After riding around on Geminus for a few moments, Vanessa looked around worriedly. "I get the feeling that we're being watched."

"Could be Navarog's goons," said Raxtus. "They know we're here. Probably waiting to ambush us the minute we exit this place."

"Almost makes us wish we'd just brought along the Translocator," said Warren. "Not that it'd be able to transport the Disapirit should we even find it."

"Where're all the so-called monsters that are said to guard this temple anyway?" asked Tanu. "You'd think that they were on holiday."

"Maybe Navarog's troop killed and devoured them," said Warren. "I mean, if Kendra and the dragons aren't finding any traces of them, it's the best explanation I could think of."

"Good," said Geminus. "At least they're helping us for once."

"So then why couldn't they succeed in acquiring the Disapirit?" asked Kendra.

"There must be a very powerful monster or trap deeper into the vault that they couldn't pass," said Tanu. "Our only advantage that they didn't have is our two instruments. Hopefully, we'll be able to overcome this obstacle, whatever it is."

The group travelled for a few more minutes, although Kendra, Raxtus, nor Geminus spotted anything out of the ordinary the entire time.

"Don't feel bad that you guys can't see anything," said Kendra. "There honestly isn't much here to see."

"You're one to talk," said Warren, staring at his feet. "Any minute I get the feeling that I'm going to plummet down to Earth.

"There's an ocean beneath us, isn't there?" asked Raxtus. "It'd break your fall."

"Falling into water from _this_ height?" asked Warren. "Not the safest thing in the world."

The entire experience through the vault was plain at best. There was nothing to stop or impede the group's progress. Kendra just dreaded the thought. Vertigo Volcano had its share of traps and obstacles, even though it lacked any guards. And Frozen Fortress was a slippery deathtrap with a griffin, even though the beast had previously been mauled by Raze and his cohorts. But Pileus Palace was like a walk in the park. Something felt very wrong.

After turning around another corner, the group approached another room, where something caught the attention of Kendra, Raxtus and Geminus. "THERE IT IS!" shrieked Kendra.

"There what is?" asked Warren.

"The Disapirit!" exclaimed Raxtus, pointing to the purple instrument of eternal power that was lying atop of crystal-like pedestal that seemed to be woven into the floor.

"Okay," said Tanu. "Take it easy. This is probably where the trap lies. The one that offed Navarog's other lackeys."

"Unless the instrument you see is a decoy," said Warren. "Be very careful."

"I hope this is really it," said Geminus. "It's glowing brightly and everything."

"I'll get it," said Kendra, drawing Vasilis from her sheath. "Watch my back."

Kendra let go of Warren's hand, and nervously stepped forward towards the crystal pedestal that held the Disapirit. Wild thoughts began running through Kendra's mind. Why was nothing apparently guarding it? Was it safe to touch? Did anyone who touched it actually vanish? Of course, if that were the case, the other monsters would've learned what was going when their comrades touched it.

Having reached the pedestal, Kendra slowly placed her hand on the Disapirit, allowing her fingers to spread across its shiny surface. Without letting her mind get overwhelmed with any hesitation, Kendra grabbed hold of the sacred instrument, and plucked it straight off of the pedestal.

"Look!" gasped Vanessa. "The palace! Everything! It's all coming into focus!"

"She's right!" noted Warren. "It's like the Disapirit was singlehandedly keeping this whole place invisible!"

"You guys can see the place now?" asked Geminus. "Weird."

"All right!" said Vanessa, as Kendra walked back to the group. "Now we can get out of this bizarre place and go home!"

The group's joyous victory was cut short, as they turned back to hear something whinnying behind their backs. Upon turning around, they could see several ink black horses standing behind them, all with glowing red eyes, bull horns and leathery, bat-like wings.

"What are those?" asked Kendra cautiously.

"Nightmares," answered Vanessa in a whisper. "If you so much as make contact with one, you'll die in a heartbeat."

"Run!" cried Tanu, as he sprinted away from the horses, prompting the others to follow his lead. Wasting no time, the nightmares immediately gave chase around the chamber.

"What'll we do?" yelled Kendra. "They're gaining on us! I can't get the Disapirit to work!"

"Don't mess with that!" cried Vanessa. "Remember trying to work the Sizeshifter back at Frozen Fortress?"

"Let me try something!" exclaimed Warren, as he reached into Kendra's bag while running and pulled out the Sizeshifter. He then aimed the instrument on the nearest nightmare and used its power to shrink it down to the size of a rat.

Despite its reduced size, the shrunken nightmare continued its pursuit of Warren and Kendra, until Warren whipped out his sword and slashed the monster in half down its middle.

"Quick, get the other ones!" shouted Tanu, who was scrambling to avoid another nightmare.

Before Warren could focus on aiming the Sizeshifter at any of the other nightmares, a flash of black smoke appeared over the one Warren had shrunken and slayed. The smoke quickly faded, revealing another nightmare.

"Shrink them all, quickly!"

Warren acknowledged Tanu and quickly fired the Sizeshifter at all six living nightmares, shrinking them all as he did the first. "Kill them all!"

Warren slashed his sword through the body of another nightmare, prompting Kendra to do the same. Gripping Vasilis in both hands, she stabbed the nightmare that had been tailing her. Vanessa pierced another nightmare with her bow, while Tanu sliced one with his axe.

"What do we do?" asked Raxtus, who was up against the wall with Geminus, as the other two nightmares were closing in on them.

"We don't fight with weapons!" cried Geminus. "We're fairy dragons! We can't even breathe fire!"

With a well-aimed shot, Vanessa pierced both nightmares with a single arrow, pinning their now-deceased corpses against the wall.

"Nice shooting, Vaness!" said Warren. "That took care of those stupid things!"

"No it didn't," said Vanessa, pointing to the new black clouds that were forming around the room, causing more nightmares to suddenly appear.

"We can't keep killing them!" said Tanu, wielding his axe. "More will just keep appearing! And they'll catch us if we try to escape from here!"

"How do we stop them?" asked Kendra, as Warren used his Sizeshifter to start shrinking the new nightmares.

"We don't," answered Warren. "There's a reason these things are called _nightmares_."

"If only there was a way to trap them!" said Vanessa, firing her bow at one of the diminutive horse-beasts.

"I don't think there's any closets we can stick 'em in," said Warren.

"I've got an idea!" exclaimed Kendra, fending herself from a nightmare with Vasilis. "Fairies! I need you!"

"Watch where you aim that thing!" exclaimed Opal, as she and the other fairies forced themselves to avoid getting hit by Vasilis upon making their entrance.

"Are those nightmares?" gasped Clover, as she watched Tanu slice through another one with his axe.

"No time to explain!" said Kendra urgently. "Think you can trap them all somehow?"

"I don't know," replied Bright worriedly, as more nightmares appeared. "How many are there? They just keep coming!"

"There's never more than six," said Kendra, as she cut through another Nightmare.

"There's gotta be more than six at a time now!" squealed Warren. "I'd say it's because you fairies appeared! There's probably a nightmare for everyone. That means ten altogether."

"So there're ten of these things we have to deal with now?" asked Tiara, as more shrunken nightmares got slayed by the knights.

"Think you fairies could trap them all in an energy field or something?" asked Kendra. "At their reduced size, that is."

"I doubt it," replied Bright. "Even if we were at full power, which we're not."

"You've got to try!" begged Kendra, slashing through yet another oncoming nightmare.

"I got an idea!" said Clover. "Maybe the dragons can lend us their power!"

"It's worth a shot!" said Bright. "Come on!"

The four fairies took off across the room to where Raxtus and Geminus were attempting to avoid getting touched by nightmares as well Vanessa's arrows.

"Fairies!" gasped Geminus. "You've kinda found us at a bad time!"

"Lend us your power!" cried Bright. "Hurry!"

"But the nightmares!" gasped Raxtus. "We'll be too weak to evade them if we give you our power!"

"Your power will be worthless if you don't escape from here with your lives!" exclaimed Clover.

Raxtus winced at Geminus, and the two of them dropped their jaws wide open. Simultaneously, the dragons unleashed a peculiar, multi-colored mist into the air, which surrounded the fairies.

"I hope this works!" said Bright. "Can you get everyone to stop attacking the nightmares?"

"I'll try," said Raxtus, as he proceeded to raise his voice. "Everybody! Stop killing the nightmares! But let Warren shrink them all!"

"Are you sure?" asked Vanessa, as Warren proceeded to shrink the rest of the currently normal-sized nightmares.

"Now what?" asked Warren. "If we don't kill them quick, they'll kill us!"

"Everyone get over here!" said Geminus, gesturing for the four knights to run towards her, which they did.

"Now get on our backs!" exclaimed Raxtus. "They'll scatter less if we're all in the same place. Hurry!"

As the knights leapt onto the backs of Raxtus and Geminus, the two dragons scurried to get away from the pursuing Nightmares.

"Now, fairies!" shouted Kendra. Upon her command, the fairies surrounded all ten of the nightmares and spawned a large, pink bubble of sorts, encasing the vile horses. The shrunken nightmares shoved and struggled to escape from the bubble, but failed.

"Get out of here, now!" gasped Bright. "Our magic won't hold them for long!" She then vanished along with the other three fairies.

With the knights riding on the backs of Raxtus and Geminus, the two dragons sprinted back the way they came through the now visible temple. Scrambling to find the exit, they raced through the seemingly endless gauntlet of passage, which seemed much shorter on their way in.

At long last, they made it to the front door of the temple, practically out of breath. They swung the doors open, and treaded out onto the front steps of Pileus Palace. At this point, the knights dismounted from Raxtus and Geminus so that everybody could catch their breath.

"Will we be okay?" asked Kendra, wiping her brow. "What if they keep following us?

"Nightmares are territorial," said Vanessa. "Now that we've escape from the vault, they won't be inclined to chase us down.

"What's the deal with those Nightmares?" asked Kendra.

"Aside from being a namesake," said Warren, "there's no way to get rid of them. They just keep coming if you kill them. They weren't kidding when they said Pileus Palace is guarded by countless monsters. Those things are infinite."

"They didn't appear until I grabbed the Disapirit," said Kendra, admiring the newly-discover jewel in her hands.

"That thing was making the entire vault invisible," said Tanu. "And it probably kept the nightmares phased out as well until you removed it from that pedestal. I bet Navarog's goons were able to find the Disapirit whenever they came here, only to get killed by the nightmares, who then placed the instrument back on that pedestal.

"So that's why nobody ever returned from here," said a sly, female voice. Nervously, everyone turned their attention over to the source of the sound to see Avanta, floating in the air along with the six other monsters from before.

"We don't have time for you," muttered Warren.

"Hand over all three of your instruments and I promise none of you will hurt." As she spoke, Avanta eyed the Sizeshifter that Warren was still holding onto.

"Like we're that stupid," said Warren, as he readied the Sizeshifter at Avanta, only for Jark to fly in front of her.

"You think you're so clever," said Avanta. "I'll give you persnickety brats ten seconds to forfeit the instruments, or my friends and I are going to get quite vicious, if you know what I mean. One-"

"Can we make a break for it?" asked Kendra.

"I dunno," said Raxtus. "The fairies are exhausted, as are we dragons!"

"Five-" continued Avanta.

"I'm open to suggestions…" said Warren worriedly.

"We can't take them all on like this!" added Vanessa.

"-Nine!" continued Avanta. "Ten! I guess I'll just take the instruments by force!"

Avanta leaned back and lunged forward, ripping the bag containing the Essence of Immunity and the Disapirit from Kendra's grasp using one of her talons. The force of Avanta's pull nearly sent Kendra toppling over the edge of the front steps and down into the vast sky below. Kendra quickly drew Vasilis, although she was too late to stop Avanta.

"Get me that stupid sword, Jark," said Avanta. "Its power won't affect you."

Jark lashed his tongue at Kendra, quickly wrapping it around her body and Vasilis, and then pulling her back before anyone could save her.

"Waa ya wan wid ha?" asked Jark, with Kendra dangling from his tongue.

**(Translation: What'd ya want with her?)**

"On second thought," said Avanta. "She can keep her precious sword. Release her at once."

Jark loosened his tongue's grip on Kendra and allowed her to slip out of his grasp. With nothing beneath Kendra, she began to helplessly plummet down towards Earth. At this point, it seemed that no one could save her.


	23. Vanquish and Vanish

**Chapter 23 – Vanquish and Vanish**

Kendra uncontrollably fell down through the sky. Paralyzed with fear, she couldn't even scream any coherent words, which would've been helpless due to the fact that no one was around to hear her.

"FAIRIES!" Kendra managed to scream, but got no response. The fairies were too weak to help her now, and flailing her arms was quite possibly the only thing she could think of, even though it was futile.

Having fallen through the clouds, Kendra could see a vast jungle stretching across the horizon beneath her. In less than a minute, she would hit the ground and die. It was hopeless.

Seconds later, Warren came plunging through the clouds, only now he was at least twenty feet tall. Falling at a faster rate than even Kendra, Warren quickly caught up with her and grabbed her in his hand. Kendra immediately noticed that with her in Warren's hand were the Sizeshifter, the Disapirit and the Essence of Immunity, the last of which was currently glowing brightly.

"Warren!" cried Kendra. "What are you doing? How'd you get-"

"It's hard to explain!" shouted Warren against the rushing air. "But we can use the Essence of Immunity to protect us from our landing impact!"

Just then, Avanta came swooping down through the clouds. Even from a distance, Kendra could instantly recognize the rage that was glowing in her eyes. Darting downwards, Avanta shot a blast of fire at Warren, who barely managed to dodge it in mid-fall.

"Navarog might not have gotten rid of you, but I WILL!" she snarled.

"Time to deal with her," said Warren sternly, squeezing against the Sizeshifter and using its magic to shrink back to his proper size. He then handed the three instruments over to Kendra and whipped Vasilis from her hand. "Take care of these, would ya?"

As Avanta caught up with Warren and Kendra, Warren dove forward and grabbed onto the wyvern's talon with one hand, wielding aloft Vasilis in his other. "Mock me, Avanta? I'll show you!"

As Avanta's wings kept her and Warren afloat, Kendra was left with no choice but to gaze upwards as she continued dropping down to Earth. At the rate she was falling, Kendra lost sight of what was going on between Avanta and Warren.

Kendra was clenching the Essence of Immunity tightly as the distance between her and the Earth grew closer and closer every second. Praying that the instrument's power would protect her, Kendra braced herself as impact with the surface of the planet drew nearer.

Mere seconds away from colliding with the ground, Kendra squeezed her eyes shut, relying on the magic inside the Essence of Immunity to save her. She could feel as her body smashed through several layers of tree branches before slamming face first on the ground.

Kendra opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground in an African jungle, with the Essence of Immunity clenched in one hand. Strangely, she felt perfectly fine; not a single scratch or bruise to be found anywhere on her body.

Pushing her body off the ground, Kendra could see that she had made a small impact crater where she had landed. It vaguely resembled the shape of her body, unlike the perfect silhouettes she had seen cartoon characters make whenever they dashed through a wall.

Kendra stood up, stepped out of the crater, and brushed the dirt off of her body. Thanks to the Essence of Immunity, falling from the sky had been painless. However, she was still worried about the others. Warren was tangoing with Avanta high in the sky, while the others were stranded up at Pileus Palace with Navarog's goons.

Kendra began walking around, looking completely distraught. She was all alone in a strange African jungle, and had no idea as to how she would go about getting home. She then heard a strange noise coming from nearby, which quickly shifted from rustling to a loud thud.

"Bright!" cried Kendra, "please come out!"

Upon hearing her words, Bright appeared before Kendra, looking rather flush. She then looked around at her new surroundings. "Kendra, what's going on?" she asked sheepishly.

"I don't know," she gasped. "I'm just so-"

"Kendra!" shouted Warren, whose voice came from up in the air. Kendra and Bright immediately gazed upwards and saw Avanta soaring down towards them. "Are you all right?"

"She's coming right for us!" exclaimed Kendra, as she began to run away, only for the purple wyvern to pursue her from above.

"Wait!" blared Warren, whose voice was clearly coming from Avanta. Upon hearing Warren's voice again, Kendra paused and looked back at Avanta. She had been decapitated, and Warren was hanging onto her talons, riding the monster down from the air like a hang glider.

Kendra let out a breath of relief as Warren descended near her. "You scared me. I thought Avanta was coming after me."

"Sorry. I guess being chased by a headless wyvern is not the most comforting feel in the world, now, is it?"

"What happened?" asked Kendra.

"After Avanta stole our instruments back up at Pileus Palace, and Jark let you fall, I just got so mad that I lunged at Avanta, ripped the instruments off of her, and went after you. I knew that with the Essence of Immunity, the fall wouldn't hurt me. I then grew in size to in order to fall faster and catch up with you."

"And what about your battle with Avanta?"

"Short-lived. She tried to jostle me off, but using Vasilis on a being with such a dark heart is like using a chainsaw to cut Jell-O. I went for her head. Lucky for me, dead wyverns make great hang gliders. I think her head landed near where you did."

"So what do we do now?" asked Kendra. "_We_ made it to safety, but what about the other knights?"

"Couldn't tell you. And we've got no way of contacting them. Hopefully they can fend for themselves. In the meantime, let's get back to safety."

"Wherever that is," said Kendra worriedly. "Where are we?"

Warren pulled out a map and looked at it. "Well, Pileus Palace was heading east over the southeast Atlantic when we reach it. At the rate its going, we probably landed in Namibia. I say we try to find civilization for the time being."

"At least our count is up to three now," said Kendra, handing the Disapirit to Warren as they began to walk off.

"Now we're at a standstill," said Warren, inspecting the Disapirit. "The only undiscovered instrument now is the Accelerizer, and who knows where we should start searching for that."

"I guess I'll have to take more chances with the Occulus," said Kendra. "I really don't want to harm Seth, even if it means stopping Navarog."

Warren placed his arm around Kendra. "I wonder if the Disapirit will help in recovering the Drakesoul?"

"Couldn't we phase through Navarog with it?" asked Kendra.

"I suppose. But we aren't able to faze the Drakesoul out of him."

"What if we brought Vasilis with us?" asked Kendra. "To fight off the Grovelins?"

"We'd still have to be small to get the Drakesoul out safely, and the number of Grovelins would overwhelm us, especially at a reduced size. They're quite vicious; they make those nightmares look like My Little Ponies. I can't think of a safe way to get that Drakesoul from Navarog."

Kendra sulked, wanting to change the subject. "How do you suppose that Disapirit works?"

"From what I gather," said Warren, "it either makes the bearer invisible or fazes them, much like a ghost. "I just hope you don't have to hold it a certain way like with the Sizeshifter."

Warren held the Disapirit before him and clenched it with his hands. He suddenly vanished before Kendra's very eyes. "Can you see me?" asked his voice.

"No," replied Kendra, trying to sense where he was. "Where are you?"

"Over here," came Warren's voice. "Coulter's glove has nothing on this thing! I can go wherever I want. I'm gonna try something now."

Kendra stood around while Warren did something she clearly could not see. "Warren?" she asked.

A moment later, Warren suddenly materialized before Kendra, with a huge grin on his face. "That was pretty awesome! I just phased through a tree with this thing! You could go anywhere with this thing! Wanna give it a shot?"

"That sounds really cool, actually!" said Kendra, as she accepted the Disapirit from Warren. "Do I just imagine myself turning invisible?"

"Yup."

Kendra concentrated on the Disapirit and felt a weird sensation flow through her body. She looked down at her arms and lower body, and could tell that she was invisible. Not a new sensation, but at least she could move around undetected.

"Try making yourself incorporeal," said Warren, trying to sense where Kendra was standing.

Kendra concentrated even further, and then walked up to a tree. She placed her arm onto the trunk, only for it to sink through the surface. She then pulled her arm out of the tree and allowed herself to turn visible again.

"Incredible," said Kendra, handing the Disapirit back to Warren. "You carry the instruments in your bag; mine got ripped up by Avanta."

"This'll be a great asset in our fight against Navarog," said Warren, as he placed all three instruments into his bag. "If only we knew which direction to head in next."

After wandering through the African jungle aimlessly for several hours, Kendra and Warren eventually reached the town of Keetmanshoop. Fortunately, they were able to find someone who was fluent in English, and were guided to a restaurant, as well as a bus station. While they were waiting for the bus, Warren made a long-distance phone call back to Fablehaven.

"Stan, guess what?" asked Warren, once someone answered on the other line. "We got the next instrument! The others? I don't know. No, really. I hope they're okay. Kendra and I barely escaped as it is. You haven't heard from them yet? At all? Oh, god. I hope they're okay. Look, I didn't mean… I understand. I'm really sorry, though. Kendra? She's okay. We're going to take a bus to Cape Town and go to the airport from there. Hopefully the others will be all right. I hope so to. Thank you."

Warren hung up and turned to face Kendra. "Our folks at home haven't heard back from the others."

"What if the monsters got them?" asked Kendra is a whisper, hoping that no one else in the area could hear her

"On my way down, I zapped one or two of them with the Sizeshifter. Hopefully it was enough to help even the odds. If the others survived, they'd be able to fly to safety on Raxtus and Geminus."

"I hope you're right," said Kendra, as a bus pulled up to the curb and they boarded it along with the other waiting passengers. The seats were incredibly plush, a nice change after riding on the back of a dragon for hours on end, or running around through Pileus Palace and the jungle.

Several hours later, the bus made it to Cape Town, where it pulled up outside Cape Town International Airport. By now, the sun had gone down, and Kendra was feeling exhausted. After waiting forever for Warren to purchase two plane tickets and go through customs, they were able to board a plane. Since there was no direct flight to New York, they had to travel to London and transfer to another plane from there.

At long last, they were sitting in two cozy first class seats at the front of the plane. "Good things Bright and Clover helped us get the instruments through customs," whispered Warren.

"Think we'll run into Trask while we're in London?" asked Kendra.

"I wish!" yawned Warren. "Maybe we could tell him to hurry up already!"

Before the plane had even taken off, Kendra and Warren had fallen asleep in their seats. They woke up early the next morning, not long before landing at the London Heathrow Airport. From there Warren and Kendra transferred to a different airplane that flew them to New York City.

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time Kendra and Warren stepped out of the boarding gates and into the lobby of Terminal 7. Expecting to look for Mr. Sorenson like they had on their way back from Iceland, Kendra and Warren were startled to see Vanessa and Tanu both waiting for them instead.

"Took you guys long enough to get here," said Tanu, greeting Kendra with a hug.

"What happened to you guys?" asked Warren, hugging Vanessa. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"We got a lift from our friends," said Vanessa, planting a kiss on Warren's lips.

"Let's get going," said Tanu. "We can talk about everything on the ride home."

As they walked out the front doors of the terminal, Tanu led the group around to the side of the building. There, Kendra felt an invisible force tap her shoulder, as did Warren, startling them.

"It's Raxtus," said Tanu. "Let him give us a lift into the air."

Raxtus grabbed hold of the four knights, flying them onto the roof of the terminal. Up there, Kendra saw Geminus, back in what appeared to be her fairy form, but without any wings.

"It's a consequence of being a fairy dragon," said Geminus, transforming back into a dragon. "But part of the whole deal of being one."

Kendra and Warren climbed onto Raxtus' back, while Vanessa and Tanu likewise did the same with Geminus. The two dragons soon took off into the sky, where Raxtus opted to make his body visible again.

"What happened once we were gone from Pileus Palace?" asked Kendra, as the dragons soared amongst the clouds side-by-side.

"After you fell, Kendra, a feeling of rage overwhelmed us all," said Tanu. It's likely what prompted Warren to lash out against Avanta. Once they were gone, we mustered up the energy to take on the other monsters"

"It helped that Warren shrunk Raze and something that looked like golden squid," said Raxtus.

"That was a doblug," noted Vanessa. "There was just so much calamity going on, that we were able to get the upper hand."

"You know what a good fighter I've become, haven't you, Kendra?" asked Raxtus.

"For a former self-proclaimed wimp, he's one adamant fighter," said Geminus with a sly look in her eyes. "You should've seen him!"

"I guess taking on a wyvern in free fall, decapitating her, and riding her headless carcass down from the sky has got nothing on you, then?" asked Warren.

"You really killed her?" asked Vanessa. "Navarog's not gonna like that."

"Navarog hates everything about us," said Kendra, "what's one…"

"They were an item," said Warren. "But how's he gonna know how Avanta bought the farm? We're the only ones who know what happened to her."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Tanu. "Anyway, we managed to kill all the monsters, and we opted to rest for a while, at least until we got our strength back. We searched the jungle below us, but didn't know where to find you guys at all. So, we backtracked the way we came, stopping in Puerto Rico again for the night, and then flew back to Fablehaven this morning."

"Well, I suppose Stan relayed our story to you guys," said Warren. "So now we've got three instruments in our possession."

"But Navarog still has one," noted Kendra.

"And the other is seemingly lost," said Tanu. "I wonder where we go from here."


	24. Standstill

**Chapter 24: Standstill**

At long last, the Knights of the Dawn had returned to Fablehaven after their critically dangerous mission at Pileus Palace. Although the vault had not been crawling with all sorts of monsters, it had been guarded by an endless battalion of nightmares, who were likely to kill anybody who wasn't prepared to deal with them.

It was a relief to finally be done with that mission, given the high chance of mortality within Pileus Palace. The fact that Navarog's minions had been loitering around the vault only made things worse, although the knights came out victorious in their fights against them.

Raxtus and Geminus had soared over the boundaries of the preserve, and soon were descending towards the garden surrounding the house. As the two dragons landed, their riders got off and marched into the house, where the adult Sorensons were waiting.

"Glad to see you again," said Grandma to Kendra and Warren with a relieved smile on her face as they entered the living room. "You two had us quite worried when you told us of your little misadventure with Avanta.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," said Warren, who was feeling both relieved and relaxed.

Kendra sat down on an armchair and immediately sulked to herself.

"Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "What's the matter?"

"Where are we supposed to go from here?" she moaned. "We now have three out of five instruments. One is inside of Navarog; to get it might cost Seth his life. The other is who-knows -where."

Mrs. Sorenson bent down and gave Kendra a firm hug. "You've done all that you can, Kendra. As important as this mission is, don't stress yourself out."

"But Seth! I don't even care about finding the Accelerizer anymore! I just want to save him! Are you sure there's nothing we can do to exorcise him from Seth?"

"As long as that Drakesoul stays in effect, I highly doubt it," said Tanu. "We've theorized that since Seth has physically been transformed into Navarog, the two bodies have essentially merged into one. Navarog, being the revered demon prince that he is, is the one calling the shots, sad to say. I don't believe that exorcism, an already difficult procedure, would have any effect on Navarog. Removing the Drakesoul would probably help, but is far too dangerous for us to attempt at this point."

"Look on the bright side," said Grandpa. "Even though Navarog is at large with the Drakesoul, with Seth as his hostage, I'd be hard pressed to say things could get worse."

"They sound pretty grim from what you're saying," noted Warren.

"True," said Grandpa. "The whole situation is downright devastating when you think about it, but that's where the bad part ends. Now that we have the Sizeshifter, Essence of Immunity and the Disapirit, Navarog can't go after them."

"And it's a good thing we've got them instead," said Vanessa. "Navarog wasted no time in getting all the instruments that he could."

"True," said Warren. "Navarog was so eager to get the Drakesoul first, back when he was still posing as Seth. When he got hold of that and became a dragon again, he was quick to round up his troops and send them after the Sizeshifter, Essence of Immunity and Disapirit."

"It was dangerous enough that he got his claws on the Essence of Immunity," said Tanu. "If we didn't get it back soon, he'd have the power to stand up to anything. Thankfully he was more concerned in getting the Disapirit first, which didn't work out for him."

"He could've caused a lot of chaos had he actually gotten hold of the Sizeshifter or the Disapirit and figured out how they worked," said Kendra. "

"It's almost a good thing that the Accelerizer has been hidden so well," said Grandpa. "At least Navarog hasn't been able to go after it yet. The downside is that we don't know where it could be either."

"How's Trask doing?" asked Kendra.

Grandpa rubbed his forehead. "Well, I've been checking up on him every so often. You see, the tome only provided vague details on where to find information as to the whereabouts of the Accelerizer's vault."

"Right," said Kendra. "But has he had any luck?"

"Not enough. The information was entrusted to few people, but what 's written in the tome is old and extremely out-dated. Trask can't just walk up to a certain address to enquire for information. Not if the people who are supposed to be living there are long gone and the address no longer exists, right? It's been nothing but detective work for Trask, and I commend him for his work, even if his search turns out to be in vain."

Kendra pondered about what Grandpa had told her about Trask's exploit. "If the tome was so secretive in the first place, why couldn't it just give us the location of the fifth vault?"

"Too much risk," answered Grandma. "Remember that if the tome were to be deciphered in the name of evil, they could theoretically claim all five instruments and use their power to dominate the world."

"That could've happened back when the Sphinx was initially trying to translate the tome for Navarog, before the whole incident at Obsidian Waste," said Kendra. "If they had enough time on their hands, they would've eventually translated the entire tome, and with it, directions to all five vaults."

"Which is exactly why information leading to one vault," continued Grandpa, "the one housing the Accelerizer, was limited. We've theorized that the power to essentially stop time would be quite devastating if misused. So, it shouldn't be too surprising that the writers of the tome purposely left out key information leading to the vault, so that the wrong people wouldn't be able to find it so easily."

"But what about people who don't want to use the instruments for malicious purposes?" asked Vanessa. "Like us?"

"Unfortunately, the tome itself cannot determine good from evil," said Grandpa. "Excluding information from the tome itself was the only way to ensure that the fifth instrument would not be found without outside help."

"Help that Navarog can't get," said Vanessa. "With the Drakesoul inside his body, he cannot assume his human form and seek assistance the way someone like Trask can. If he were to regurgitate the Drakesoul, he'd turn back into Seth, something he probably doesn't want to risk in case we were to find him."

"Where does that leave us?" asked Kendra.

"Well," said Grandpa, stroking his chin, "if we don't know what to do with Navarog, or how to find the Accelerizer, then I'd say that we've reached an impasse. We are unable to progress any further, but at the same time, Navarog's power is limited. We may just have to wait until Trask stumbles onto something."

Kendra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The Occulus."

Everyone else's eyes bulged out upon hearing Kendra. "Are you sure?" asked Grandpa.

"Yes," said Kendra. "The Occulus. Trask has been looking for a while now, but hasn't had a breakthrough. I'd rather at least try to help him with the Occulus and find nothing than to sit around and twiddle my thumbs the whole time."

That evening, Agad had been invited over for dinner again. As usual, he had travelled there via the Translocator and brought with him the Occulus for Kendra to use. During the course of the meal, the events of the knights' journey to Pileus Palace had revealed to Agad,.

Soon it was time for dessert, when everyone was ushered into the living room. Grandma and Mrs. Sorenson served chamomile tea and butter tarts to everyone as they all got settled down.

Agad, who was sitting across the coffee table from Kendra, placed the Occulus down in front of her. He looked Kendra directly in the eyes, hoping to earn a sign of approval from her. "Are you sure that you want to do this? You could hurt yourself like you almost did the last time you tried looking for the Accelerizer."

"I don't see any other way. Trask might never find directions to the fifth vault."

Bright, Clover, Opal and Tiara had all gathered by Kendra's side, and were resting their diminutive hands upon her arms. "We're here if you need us," said Bright.

Kendra nodded, as she leaned forward and wrapped her fingers around the Occulus and closed her eyes. She had to focus directly on the Accelerizer. Not on where it was, but on _what_ it was. The four known instruments had been green, orange, red and purple. The only other two major contenders for colors at this point seemed to be yellow and blue. And it was agreed upon that yellow was similar to the gold bases of the instruments, there was a good possibility that the final instrument was blue.

Kendra began thinking about that the Accelerizer could possibly look like. She just had to picture the template of the other instruments in her mind, then pretend that the jewel of it was blue, and she just might be able to see the Accelerizer.

At first, Kendra's mind was a completely blank slate for several seconds. As she began to concentrate on the Accelerizer, the fabled instrument seemed to be appearing before her very eyes. However, she could see nothing beyond the instrument itself. From what she could tell, it was just floating in a white void. It did appear to be glowing, but she was provided with no clues as to its location. As she stared at the Accelerizer, Kendra tried to turn her focus away from the instrument, but suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy, prompting her to let go of Occulus and fall back on the couch in a daze.

"Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, rubbing her daughter's forehead. Opening her eyes, Kendra could see her mother and several other people hovering over her head.

"I- I'm okay," said Kendra, who was still feeling a little woozy. "I saw the Accelerizer."

"You did?" gasped Grandpa. "Excellent! Do you know where it is?"

Kendra shook her head. "I couldn't tell."

"Do you have any clues at all?" asked Warren. "Maybe even just describe the area to us?"

"I can't. The Accelerizer was all I could see. Shifting my focus and trying to get a different view only made me dizzy and caused me to lose sight of it. I'm afraid that if I try looking at it again, I'll just get the same results."

"Well, at least we know that the Accelerizer actually exists," said Grandpa. "It hasn't been destroyed or anything. But we still aren't any closer to finding out where it lies. At least you tried, Kendra."

"I don't get it," said Warren. "Why would Kendra be able to see the Accelerizer, but nothing else? Is it in some sort of magically protected area?"

"The Occulus can see anywhere imaginable, provided that it's real," said Agad. "It bypasses distractor spells. "I don't understand how the area around it cannot be seen, and by a fairykind of all people!"

"The Accelerizer was glowing when I saw it," said Kendra. "But I couldn't see who was using it, or how."

"You think someone already found the Accelerizer,?" asked Tanu.

"At this point, I don't know what to believe," answered Grandpa. "But how could anyone else even get a hold of the Accelerizer if its been hidden so well? And furthermore, what are they doing with it? If that thing indeed slows down time, and Kendra got a look at it for even just a few seconds, there must be something strange going on here since it wouldn't need to be in effect for that long."

"But who would use a time-stopping device in that manner?" asked Warren. "It doesn't make sense."

"No idea," replied Agad. "But if the Accelerizer is in use, perhaps that is why Kendra is unable to focus on it. It's going too fast for her to follow it properly."

"One more thing", said Kendra. "I want to use the Occulus one more time."

Everyone else looked at each other in confusion. "What?" asked Agad. "Right now? But you just..."

"Not to look for the Accelerizer," stated Kendra. "I want to look in on Seth. Make sure he's okay."

"Kendra," said Agad, placing his hand atop her's, "you'll only upset yourself. Seth cannot detect if you check in on him with the Occulus or not. It doesn't work like that. It's a one-way window."

"But what if I never get to see him again? How long will I have to wait?"

At this point, tears had begun to gather in Kendra's eyes, and were slowly dripping down the front of her cheeks. Mrs. Sorenson leaned over and gave her daughter an assuring hug. "Oh, Kendra," she sobbed.

"I don't know," said Agad. "Until we figure out a way to separate your brother from Navarog, I am unable to answer your question."

* * *

Later that night, Kendra had gotten ready for bed, and had changed into her nightgown. Everyone had done what they could to ease her pain and anxiety, and though she had recovered somewhat, wanted nothing more than to be able to help Seth.

Kendra was by the window of her attic room, kneeling on a chair and gazing at the trees throughout the preserve. Fablehaven was a fairly large place, but compared to the rest of the world, it was practically non-existent. The knights' search for the instruments of eternal power had already taken them to Hawaii, Siberia, Iceland, and even the sky. Where could the fifth one be?

Suddenly, Bright appeared by Kendra's side. "Feeling any better?" she asked.

"A little," answered Kendra. "I just wish that Seth knew about what we we've been doing to help him."

Bright pondered for a moment, when her face suddenly lit up. "I've got it! Just wait right there!"

Without saying anything, Bright flew out the window and headed towards the naiad's pond. Kendra followed Bright with her eyes until she had flown out of sight. What was Bright doing? Too riled up to focus on anything else, Kendra waited patiently for several minutes, until Bright returned, stopping on the windowsill to catch her breath.

"What took you so long?" asked Kendra.

"I left a message with Bracken," she panted. "He's going to get help from our mother, and through her power, she's going to try and transmit a message to Seth via Navarog."

"What?" asked Kendra. "How?"

"The message, which will be telepathic, will home in on Navarog's negative energy. However, being a message in the name of light, it will bypass through his mind and soul, and into Seth, who will receive it."

"Really? What was the message?"

"The message? It was to tell Seth that we've all been working our hardest to save him, and that we'll always love him. Also that we'll never give up hope, no matter how dire and grim the situation may get."

"I hope it works," said Kendra, placing her hand around Bright, as if she were hugging her.

"Well, we can't expect a reply any time soon, but at least its a sign of hope for Seth."

Kendra nodded. "Thank you. I'm gonna go to bed soon."

Bright smiled and nodded. "We can tell the others in the morning. "Good night Kendra."

"Night, Bright,"

As Kendra closed the window and crawled into bed, Bright disappeared in a puff of multicolored sparkles. Kendra then closed her eyes and let her mind drift into a deep, heavy sleep.

Several hours later, Kendra's body had been shaken until she woke up. Opening her dreary eyes, Kendra could see Grandpa and Grandma both standing on each side of her bed. "What is it?" she yawned.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Grandpa. "I've just been informed by Trask! He's found the location of the fifth and final vault!"


	25. Code Breakers

**Chapter 25 – Code Breakers**

Kendra took a moment to come to her senses upon hearing what Grandpa had told her. "He... he found it?"

"Yes," gasped Grandpa hesitantly. Kendra quickly turned her attention away from her grandparents and over to her bedside table, where the face of her digital clock read 5:17.

"Sorry to wake you this early," said Grandma, "but this is breaking news.

Kendra placed her hands over her trembling heart, then sat up against her backboard. "Is this a joke?"

"Not a joke," said Grandpa in a serious tone. "We just couldn't wait until dawn to tell you."

"He _just _found it?" asked Kendra. "He found the vault?"

"Well, not quite," said Grandpa. "He only found what is believed to be directions to the vault. But that's a huge step forward nonetheless."

"Not to sound so negative, but couldn't he wait until morning to tell us?"

"Well, he _is_ five hours ahead of us over in London. He was just too excited and called here anyway. He said that he'd get on the next plane to New York, and that he'd be here in a few hours."

"So where is the vault?" asked Kendra.

"That's where you come in, I'm afraid," answered Grandpa. "Trask's directions are written in a mystical language. We're banking on your ability to interpret the language and find out what it really says. However, at least the whole ordeal over finding theses directions is behind us."

"But for now, you're welcome to go back to bed for a bit," said Grandma. "Assuming that you aren't too excited."

"We'll see you when you get up," said Grandpa. "Get ready though, for when Trask arrives."We're going to go tell the others."

As Grandpa and Grandma left the room, Kendra fell back beneath her covers and closed her eyes. They were now very close on acquiring the fifth and final instrument! If they played their cards right, they could ultimately get the Drakesoul back from Navarog and rescue Seth. There was now a light at the end of the tunnel! Kendra felt so full of energy! Why did her grandparents have to wake her now? It was impossible to fall asleep again after hearing what they had told her.

Eventually, Kendra opened her eyes to see that her clock now read 8:45. Still feeling a little tired, Kendra leaped out of bed, freshened up in the bathroom, and got dressed.

When Kendra went downstairs to the first floor, she could see that her family and friends were all talking amongst each other in the living room. Everyone was thrilled to see Kendra, almost as if it were her birthday or something. However, there was little to do, other than talk about what Trask had finally uncovered.

At roughly eleven, somebody could be heard knocking on the front door, silencing all the talking that was taking place in the living room. Dale got up, walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hello, Trask," said Dale.

"Nice to see you again," responded Trask, as he passed through the foyer an into the living room, where he was greeted by a small crowd of smiles.

"How have you been, Trask?" asked Grandpa.

"Hoo boy," said Trask. "Am I glad _that _whole ordeal is over with!"

"Please," said Grandma, getting up from her chair, "take a seat."

"Thank you, Ruth," said Trask, as he plopped himself in the vacant armchair.

"Rough flight?" asked Warren.

"First class is hardly what I call rough," laughed Trask. "But find information about the final vault, that was just dead end after dead end!"

"Why'd it take so long?" asked Kendra.

"You know how the tome didn't provide any real instructions as to where the vault was located? Well, it sent me to seek out a certain tribe living in an area that would eventually become part of London. Of course, that tribe is long gone, and it took a ton of investigating of family records and such to learn about what happened to them. It was chaos. Every time I found a clue, it would lead either to a dead end, or more tracking to figure out!"

"You must've had to investigate generation after generation!" exclaimed Vanessa.

"And that was very tedious in and of itself. Between deaths of key family members and changed names, it was very difficult getting to the clues that had been passed down. It would help if women didn't change their maiden name upon marriage, that's for sure."

"But you eventually got it, and that's what matters," said Grandma. "You deserve a huge thank-you."

"Believe me. I'd have rather gone to the vaults we knew about in search of their instruments than seek out directions to this final vault. I finally lucked out and was led to two separate, elderly men who each had a slate of sorts in their possessions. These slates I assume have to be clues on finding the vault. Fortunately, I was able to haggle with them and I purchased the slates for a few thousand pounds. Guess the didn't mean that much to the men, since they could read them."

"So where are these slates?" asked Grandpa.

"In my trunk. Could someone give me a hand? They're somewhat heavy, yet delicate."

"I'll go," said Dale, as he followed Trask outside to his car. Everyone inside gazed out the living room window and watched as Trask and Dale lifted a small crate out of the trunk of Trask's car and carried it into the house, where they set it on the living room floor.

Trask pulled out a small key and used it to open the lock that was keeping the crate sealed. He then lifted off the lid and pulled several crumpled pieces of The Daily Telegraph, before pulling out a stone slate, which was roughly the size of piece of a school textbook, and placed it on the coffee table. He then removed a second slate from the crate and placed it next to the first one.

"This is it," said Trask, as everyone admired the two slates, which had been positioned side by side. "Can you read them, Kendra?"

Kendra pored over the two slates, absorbing the text that had been inscribed onto one, then turning her attention to the other.

"One of them's really weird. It's just a bunch of numbers. I can't figure out what they stand for. But the other one has a description for the vault!"

"Please!" exclaimed Trask. "Translate it!"

"I'll gladly write it down in English," said Kendra, as Mrs. Sorenson scrambled to present her with a sheet of paper and a pen. "The message isn't too long. It'll be much faster than when I translated that entire tome."

Once Kendra had finished translating both of the slates, Trask picked up the notes that Kendra had taken and examined them. "Hopefully, this data will indeed lead us to the vault. As with the previous vaults, the data you've translated doesn't quite tell us where the vault is. But it's nothing that we can't figure out."

"What I don't get are all those numbers on that other slate," said Warren. "What are they, some sort of code? And if so, for what?"

"Beats me," answered Tanu. "Aside from knowing of their locations, none of the vaults required external knowledge to pass through them. But with the production that Trask went through to find this one, we need to be ready for anything. Still, we best keep hold of those numbers just to be safe."

"In the meantime," said Trask, "I'll see where these directions that Kendra translated actually lead to. If nothing else, we at least now know that the fifth and final vault is named Labrador Labyrinth. As for these numbers, we'll see if they serve any purpose later on."

Grandpa invited Trask into his study, where he could work on figuring out where Labrador Labyrinth was actually located in peace. Everyone else waited around, either talking to themselves, or trying to make sense of the numbers that been inscribed on one of the slates. But without some sort of legend or puzzle to work with, the numbers were seemingly meaningless.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Trask exited the study, holding a piece of paper in his hand and wearing a huge smile on his face. "I did it!" he announced excitedly. "I found out where Labrador Labyrinth is located.

"What far reaches of the globe do we have to run off to this time?" asked Vanessa.

Trask laughed. "You won't be going too far this time! Labrador Labyrinth is, not surprisingly located in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Compared to some of the other places you knights have been to, this place is a hop, skip and a jump away from Fablehaven. It's closer than Wyrmroost or Lost Mesa, which are located in Alberta and Arizona respectively."

"When can we get going?" asked Tanu.

"Now that we have directions to the vault, I guess anytime we're ready, really," said Warren. "I say we make any preparations we need to today, then head out for Labrador Labyrinth first thing tomorrow."

The others all agreed with Warren, vowing to take it easy for the rest of the day, then travel to the final vault the next day.

* * *

By the following morning, the Knights of the Dawn were ready to head out to Labrador Labyrinth, and were soon leaping onto the backs of Raxtus and Geminus like before. At long last, they would be going after the fifth and final vault. Best of all, it was not terribly far away, and Navarog had no idea where this place even was. This expedition felt like it was going to be walk in the park without Navarog or his minions around to meddle in the group's affairs this time.

Barely two hours after the dragons had taken off into the sky, Tanu instructed both parties to land. As the dragons descended down from the sky towards Earth, Kendra could see the region of Labrador coming into view below her. Within a few minutes, the dragons had landed near a town by the name of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Upon landing, the four humans stopped in at a small restaurant for an an early lunch, while the two dragons waited in hiding nearby.

After lunch, the dragons flew for a short while longer, only to descend down towards a vast clifftop overlooking a forest.

"There's a cavern entrance located within the side of the cliff," said Raxtus. "Can anyone other than Kendra see it?"

"Nope," answered Warren. "You sure this is the right way?"

"Warren's right," said Tanu. "Maybe we've taken a wrong turn somewhere."

"Doubting a fairy dragon and not seeing the true path?" asked Geminus. "If that's not a distractor spell, I don't know what is. We're landing here."

Geminus and Raxtus flew the knights up against the clifftop and into an alcove that was roughly the size of a two-story house. The walls, floor and ceiling were all overgrown in thick tree roots.

"Weird," said Vanessa, as she leapt off of Geminus along with Tanu. "Those distractor spells never fail to boggle my mind."

"Is that the door?" asked Kendra, pointing to the far wall of the alcove. Instead of a there being a doorway, a massive stone boulder appeared be blocking the wall. A message had been inscribed on it in ancient runes. "It says _CLOSED_."

"Doesn't look too friendly, if that's what it says," said Warren, dashing over to the boulder to inspect it. "I'm sure there's a trick to this thing, like with that other boulder back at Vertigo Volcano.

Warren placed his hands against the giant boulder, which appeared to be good twenty feet in diameter. He attempted to shove it with all the strength he could muster, but no dice.

"Maybe it opens from the other side," Warren said, scurrying around the boulder before trying to push it in the other direction, only to get no result. "Or not. Tanu, you got any strength potions on you?"

"Forget those," said Raxtus, as he stepped up to the boulder and beside Warren. "This calls for dragon power."

Raxtus too tried to shove the boulder aside, but had no more success than Warren.

"Maybe if we work together," said Geminus suggestively.

"Good luck," said Vanessa sarcastically, as she examined where the boulder touched the alcove's back wall. "This boulder is practically welded to the wall. It'd be smarter to just chip away at it."

"We could just use the Disapirit or Sizeshifter to get past this thing," said Warren.

"But, if that's the case, why seal it off?" asked Tanu. "If the vault is actually closed, maybe the Accelerizer is no longer here."

"What else is in here?" asked Kendra, as she walked over to what seemed like a much smaller boulder that had been positioned against a side wall. Upon closer inspection, Kendra could see that the boulder was actually man-made, for it was a perfectly-shaped cube with a checkerboard pattern etched along the top. Looking at one of the sides, Kendra saw a compartment holding what appeared to be chess pieces, all of which were white. Looking at the other side of the boulder, she found another compartment, this one containing black pieces.

"I think I just found a chess set," announced Kendra, drawing the attention of her fellow teammates.

"A chess set?" asked Vanessa. "Here?"

"You think maybe we have to play a game to open the door or something?" asked Warren. "Wanna play against me, Kendra?"

"We're not here to play games," said Tanu. "But why in the heck is there a chessboard here?"

Tanu glanced over his notes, and reread the directions. "This has to be the right place."

"Maybe this place is a decoy," said Warren. "So that people would give up and leave. If that's the case, perhaps the real vault is nearby."

Meanwhile, Kendra had begun setting up the chess pieces, as if out of boredom. "These pieces are really detailed," she said, admiring a black knight. "Maybe we could keep them, as a memento."

"And what is the point of these numbers?" asked Tanu, looking at the other note. "It doesn't have anything to do with the boulder or the chessboard."

"Maybe this chessboard _is_ a clue," said Kendra, turning back to face Tanu.

"There are no numbers on it," replied Tanu.

"It still involves numbers," said Warren. "Eight rows. Eight columns. Sixty-four squares. And a whole bunch of pieces"

"Yeah, but look at these numbers," said Vanessa. 62, 1023, 232, and so on. What's chess have to do with numbers like these?"

Kendra took the note with the numbers from Vanessa's hand, and looked over it closely.

_**62**_

_**1023**_

_**232**_

_**2523**_

_**362**_

_**4823**_

_**532**_

_**5923**_

"Hold on a sec," said Kendra. "All these numbers end in either a two or a three."

"Correction," said Warren. "They all end in a two or a twenty-three. I think we're on to something here."

"Yeah, but what do the numbers two and twenty-three have to do with chess?" asked Vanessa. "What makes them so special."

"Perhaps they stand for something," said Tanu, observing the pieces on the board. "Two comes into play many times during chess. Two teams. Two kings and queens. Two sets of knights, bishops and rooks. No idea about twenty-three."

"Maybe it's a message," said Kendra. "Like the letters stand for numbers. But, there's only twenty-six letters in the alphabet. I don't see how that connects to this code."

"Interesting," said Warren, eyeing the code. "If you remove the twos and the twenty-threes at the end of each line, you get eight numbers in order from lowest to highest. 6, 10, 23, 25, 36, 48, 53 and 59."

"And there's sixty-four spaces on the board," said Kendra. At least they don't go any higher."

"Let's clear off the board," said Tanu, as he and the others all began to removes pieces from the board. "I'll mark the spaces of corresponding numbers with pieces. Starting with six."

Tanu placed a white bishop on the sixth square in the topmost row, indicating that it was space number six. He then placed a black pawn on the second space in the second row, the tenth space overall. Eventually, he had placed a seemingly random piece on every corresponding square.

"I don't think that did anything," said Raxtus.

"Yeah, well we still have these twos and twenty-threes to work with," said Tanu. "And that's assuming that this theory of mine with the spaces is correct. The key may lie in the pieces themselves."

"Four twos and four twenty-threes," said Warren. "What do they stand for? What pieces are they? What do two and twenty-three have to do with chess?"

"Maybe the two stands for B, since B is the second letter," said Kendra. "And B might mean bishop."

"What about the twenty-three?" asked Warren.

"Hmm," said Vanessa. "The twenty-third letter of the alphabet is W. But none of the pieces start with a W."

"B and W," said Kendra, when her face suddenly lit up. "Black and white! Tanu! See how the first row has a black bishop on the sixth square?"

"Yeah, that was the six from the first number."

"Swap it with a black piece," said Warren. "That way you'll match up space six with two."

"Which black piece should I use?" asked Tanu.

"I don't, know," answered Kendra. "We haven't derived enough detail."

Tanu placed a black pawn the square six, the placed a white rook over the black pawn that was resting on square ten. As they went over the rest of the board, Tanu replaced three other miscolored pieces with pieces of the other color.

Suddenly, the eight pieces that were on the board literally sank down into the boulder, essentially disappearing. Before anyone could react, a flash of light appeared on the board. When the light faded, a rather worn-looking scroll was lying on the board in its place, leaving everyone agasp.


	26. Lost in Time

**Chapter 26 – Lost in Time**

As everyone gazed at the scroll that had magically materialized upon the chessboard, Tanu reached down and picked it up.

"There appears to be some sort of seal on this scroll," noted Tanu, pointing to a solid black ring, which was keeping the scroll from being unravelled. He attempted to slide the ring up and down the scroll, hoping to loosen it, but had no such luck.

"Maybe I can cut it off," said Warren, wielding a dagger in one hand. He then accepted the scroll from Tanu, and proceeded to try and slice through the seal, but was unsuccessful. "Man, this thing is really tough. Whoever put this seal on it really doesn't want anybody reading this thing."

"I've got an idea," said Kendra. "Let's just use the Disapirit on the seal."

"It's worth a try," said Vanessa, as she pulled the purple instrument out from her bag and faced it point blank at the seal of the scroll. She then unleashed the Disapirit's energy upon the seal, but after trying for several seconds, held back when she saw that it wasn't doing anything.

"This scroll must protected by some powerful magic," said Tanu. "If only we could penetrate it. But I don't know if we can, even with our current provisions and abilities.

"So where do we go from here?" asked Kendra, looking around the alcove again, when something suddenly caught her eyes. "The writing on the wall! It's changed!"

"What does it say?" asked Warren frantically, as everyone stared at the writing, despite the fact that they couldn't interpret it.

"First it said _CLOSED_," began Kendra. "Now it says _READ THE SCROLL_."

"I didn't need a sign to tell me that," muttered Warren. "But easier said than done. We can't even open the stupid thing."

"First we get to a dungeon that we're not supposed to enter," said Vanessa, "then we solve some outrageous puzzle to get a scroll that we can't read. What do they want from us."

"I wish I could answer your question," said Tanu. "But if the vault really is closed off, and we've been left with a message within that scroll, I say we find a way to open it at all costs."

"But what about the instrument in the vault?"asked Kendra. "How are we supposed to recover it if we're not permitted entry?"

"I'm afraid that I do not have an answer for that," said Tanu. "I propose that we return to Fablehaven with the scroll and see if anyone can help us, be it Trask or the Fairy Queen. If we're really not supposed to enter the vault at this point, I wouldn't want us to force our way in."

As Kendra climbed onto Raxtus' back along with Warren, she couldn't help but stare back at the large boulder that was blocking access into the inner vault. As Raxtus began to flap his wings and take off, she reread the message that said "READ THE SCROLL" yet again. Part of her felt that Tanu was right, that they should not be entering the vault and instead reading the scroll. The other felt that the whole thing was a ruse to keep anyone away from the vault, and that they should instead make their way through the barricade and venture on in.

The dragons flew the knights back the way they came, eventually returning to Fablehaven during the mid-afternoon. As the dragons flew over the preserve and descended towards the front yard of the house, they were greeted by Grandpa, Grandma, Dale, Trask and Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson.

"Sorry to hear that your journey hit a rough spot," said Grandpa, as the four knights climbed down from their dragons.

"Maybe you could help us find a way to open the scroll that we've uncovered," said Tanu, as everybody migrated inside the house and into the living room.

"I'll see what I can do," said Trask with a wry smile on his face. "Just when I thought I'd get a chance to settle down for once."

Tanu sat down across the table from Trask, and removed the scroll from his bag. "This is it," said Tanu, handing the scroll across the table to Trask. "See if you can figure this out."

"Did you ever consider simply unrolling it?" asked Trask, as he rolled open the scroll to everyone's astonishment.

"How'd you do that?" asked Warren. "We tried everything! What'd you do with the seal?"

"What seal?" asked Trask, examining the scroll. "There was no seal on this. You saw what I did."

"As weird as this is, I'm not one to complain," said Warren. "What does the scroll say, anyway?"

"It appears to be written in some sort of fairy language," said Trask. "You know what that means."

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Again?"

"Kendra, we'd hate to force you to use your ability in such a manner, but you know how important this is," said Grandpa.

"No, I understand," said Kendra. "I just wish that this whole thing was so convoluted."

"Here, you can use my computer if you'd like," said Mr. Sorenson, placing his hand upon Kendra's shoulder.

"Okay," said Kendra, as she accepted the rolled up scroll from Trask. She then ventured upstairs to the second floor and entered her parents' bedroom. On a desk in the corner of the room was her father's computer, which she sat down in front of and logged into. As what she did with the tome, Kendra opened of a word processing program and proceeded to type down everything she read from the scroll.

The writing that Kendra had laid her eyes upon was almost unbelievable. As twisted and complex that everything appeared to be, it at least provided her with some solid answers, including the true whereabouts of the Accelerizer, and what had happened to it.

Roughly half an hour later, Kendra printed off her translation of the scroll, and brought it downstairs for everyone to see. Grandpa accepted the document from Kendra's shivering hand, and began to read it aloud to everyone in the room.

_To the finder of this scroll:_

_If you are reading this scroll, then you are hopefully_

_one with a righteous heart, and are in a safe_

_sanctuary._

_We have done everything_

_in our power to conceal the Accelerizer from evil._

_However, our writing, as well as the instruments of _

_eternal power, are incapable of determining between_

_good and evil._

_We, the founders of the Knights of the Dawn, wanted_

_to make sure that the five instruments of eternal power_

_were well hidden, to the point where anyone who lacked_

_the secret knowledge of their whereabouts would never_

_stumble upon them by accident._

_We sent in our best warriors to reach and infiltrate _

_the vaults that housed the five instruments. Even with _

_their provided knowledge, they did not have an easy _

_time with their missions, except for the knight assigned_

_to Labrador Labyrinth, who complained that it was too easy._

_Doubting as to whether or not Labrador Labyrinth was a_

_suitable vault for the Accelerizer, which we've deemed_

_to be the most devastating of the instruments, we agreed_

_that a better home was needed for it. One which we_

_hoped would never be found through a conventional_

_method, hopefully so that it would be forgotten over time._

_Using the Chronometer, we travelled forward into the_

_future, until we reached a time period where magic and_

_fantastic creatures were practically extinct. However,_

_technology had advanced far beyond our expectations._

_Unable to bring the Accelerizer forward through time, _

_we instead employed a group of people from the future_

_to travel back to our time. Using their advanced _

_knowledge, they constructed a vault in outer space._

_The new vault was named Silicon Station, and is located_

_along the asteroid belt inside a large asteroid. As the_

_information written in our tome about Labrador Labyrinth was_

_no longer valid, we removed it, and gave clues leading _

_to the new vault to two trusted parties. However, we made _

_sure to not include new information to help keep Silicon_

_Station a secret._

_If one must retrieve the Accelerizer from Silicon Station,_

_this is the procedure. Travel to the secret preserve known_

_as Rio Branco in the Kingdom of Portugal, or possibly_

_Brazil, depending on your current date. In Rio Branco,_

_travel to the large statue of the golden phoenix near the _

_center of the preserve. With this scroll in your right hand, _

_placecyour left on the phoenix's beak and hold it there for_

_ten seconds. This should open up an underground passage_

_leading to a secret hangar. Inside the hangar is a shuttle_

_ship that will transport you to Silicon Station._

Everyone in the room was shocked, as Grandpa continued reading. "That was the real message. The rest of the scroll seems to just be access codes."

"Outer space?" asked Grandma. "Are they serious?"

"If they sought assistance from the future, I suppose so," said Grandpa.

"It can't be a trap," said Tanu. "They had too many earlier opportunities to catch us. I get the feeling that this is the real deal."

"So basically, we have to travel all the way into deep space just to get this insrument?" asked Warren. "With conventional spacecraft, it could take months to reach the asteroid belt. How long's this shuttle they speak of supposed to take?"

"It didn't say," exclaimed Kendra. "Hopefully not too long. But I'll go, no matter how long this trip will take."

"Hold on a second," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You're really going to go into outer space for an undetermined length of time? What will you do for food? What will you do if there's a malfunction and you run out of air?"

"Might I suggest that we inspect this so-called shuttle before we use it?" asked Vanessa. "If it doesn't look safe, I propose that we abort this mission."

"But if the Accelerizer really is in outer space, how else are we supposed to retrieve it?" asked Kendra.

"Try to convince NASA for their assistance?" suggested Warren.

"Listen, Kendra," said Grandma, placing her arm around her granddaughter's shoulder, "I don't want to sound discouraging, but no one can do everything. Venturing into outer space, without knowing what one is doing, is extremely dangerous, and perhaps, even out of our league."

"So you're saying we should just give up?"

"If travelling into outer space is something we won't be able to handle, I'm afraid so," said Grandpa. "And that means no chance of getting the Accelerizer."

Kendra bent her head down and began to cry.

"Kendra, it's not like we won't try," said Warren.

"What if we can't make it?" cried Kendra. "I mean, they purposely hid this instrument where nobody would ever find it. And I don't even care about the instruments anymore! I just want Seth back, and for Navarog to just go away!"

Mrs. Sorenson gave Kendra a hug, "Don't you think we miss him too?"

Kendra hugged her mother back. "I know. But we need to at least try. Since this shuttle is said to be at Rio Branco, how do we go about going there?"

"The new caretaker of the preserve is a man named Carlito Demano. I'll give him a call and let him know that you'll be coming. And as much as I'd be willing to trust him, I won't be telling him about the secret shuttle. At least, not yet."

First thing tomorrow, we'll head out for Rio Branco," said Tanu.

"I guess it might be interesting," said Kendra. "It's the only one of the secret preserves I haven't been to. I just hope that this journey doesn't turn out to be a bust. Otherwise, I don't know how we'll ever save Seth."

The next morning, the four knights ate a hearty breakfast, and were soon riding on the backs of Raxtus and Geminus, who were heading southbound towards Brazil. Although it much farther than Newfoundland and Labrador, if nothing else, Tanu had pretty much memorized the location in his mind.

According to Tanu, Rio Branco was located roughly 100 miles northwest of Brasilia. After having flown for a good five hours, Raxtus and Geminus descended down from the clouds and into the rainforests of Brazil. The rainforest was humid, more so than the African jungle she and Warren had traversed, and that was by foot.

After flying for several minutes, Tanu directed the dragons to the front gate of the preserve. Since Grandpa had alerted Carlito that they would be coming, the register for Rio Branco would not be repelling Warren, Tanu and Vanessa from the preserve as they had been from the other vaults.

As Tanu swung open the front gate, an enormous, green and red feathered serpent with an impressive wingspan flew down next to them, with an intimidating glare in its eyes.

"Who are you?" asked the serpent in a deep, raspy voice.

"We're the visitors from Fablehaven," said Tanu. "You must be Felvanor, the quetzalcoatl."

"Correct," said Felvanor, bending down and sniffing each of the six visitors, including Raxtus and Geminus, who were dwarfed by comparison. "I hope for your sake that you're telling the truth. Please wait right there."

Felvanor flew off from the gate, and returned a moment later carrying a middle-aged man in overalls.

"Oi!" shouted the man from atop the quetzalcoatl. "I am Carlito Demano. I see that you met Felvanor. Don't worry. If you're being truthful, she won't hurt you. Would you like to take a load off?"

"I guess we could use a small rest," said Tanu, as his comrades nodded in agreement.

Carlito and Felvanor led the group to a small manor not too far away from the entrance to the preserve. While Felvanor waited outside with Raxtus and Geminus, Carlito led the four knights into his manor, seating them in what appeared to be a well-furnished lounge.

"My daughter Suzanne would be delighted to get anyone a drink," said Carlito, as he waved to a young girl standing in the hall. "Now, what brings you to Rio Branco?"

"How should we say this," began Tanu. "But, we are on a top-secret mission for the Knights of the Dawn."

"Ah yes, you're looking for the instruments of eternal power," said Carlito. "Don't be surprised, I'm a knight myself. But why did you come here? It's true that the Occulus was once hidden on this very piece of land, but that was months ago. After that, the preserve was overrun by a shadow plague. It wasn't restored until recently, after the Society of the Evening Star disbanded."

"Well, we've been following a series of clues," said Warren. "So far, they've led us here, which is supposedly where we'll find a path to the actual vault itself."

"So, where exactly does this clue tell you to go?" asked Carlito. "Rio Branco is by no means a small preserve."

"All the clue mentioned was that we needed to travel to a statue of a golden phoenix," answered Tanu.

"Ah yes, the sun bird statue," said Carlito. "Getting you there won't be a problem, but there isn't much to see."

"What do you mean?" asked Warren. "The statue doesn't need to be impressive, so long as its there."

"That's the problem," said Carlito. When the preserve was overturned by the Society of the Evening Star, the statue was more or less destroyed."


	27. The Phoenix's Secret

**Chapter 27 – The Phoenix's Secret**

The Knights of the Dawn could not believe what they were hearing.

"Destroyed?" muttered Kendra nervously. "No. It can't be! We came all this way."

"It's not so bad," said Carlito. "I know exactly where the statue was if you need its precise location."

"We kinda need the statue intact," said Warren. "We might as well get this out of the way, but the statue itself, particularly the beak of it, we need in order to open the path to the hidden vault. How much of the statue is still intact?"

"I can't really say," said Carlito, as Suzanne entered the room and presented cups of tea to everyone. It was smashed into many pieces, and I haven't gotten around to cleaning the place up."

"Smashed?" asked Vanessa.

"I'm afraid so. Believe me, if we knew how important this statue was to you..."

"What's done is done," said Tanu. "All we can do at this point is inspect the statue ourselves and see if we can work with what's left of it."

After drinking up their tea, Carlito and Suzanne led the rest of the knights outside, where they got onto Felvanor, while the knights followed behind them on Raxtus and Geminus. The quetzalcoatl led them across several acres of land, passing over trees and a few ancient, until landing near the aforementioned phoenix statue.

The statue was of a golden phoenix in a crouching position, roughly fifteen feet tall including the pedestal it had been situated on However, feathers had been chipped off its right wing, while the left had fall off completely. The real killer was that it's entire head was lying on the ground in front of it.

"Well, this is it," said Carlito, as head led the group up to the base of the statue.

"How are we supposed to work with this?" asked Kendra. "The head isn't even attached!"

"Look, we're really sorry," said Suzanne.

"This isn't good," said Tanu. "We need the beak of the statue in order for this to work, and the thing's lost its entire head."

Warren bent down and struggled to lift up the fallen phoenix head, which had to have weighed over two-hundred pounds. Barely able to hold it above the ground, he plopped it back down."I was gonna suggest maybe we crazy glue it back on, but it's way too heavy."

"Welding it would be better than crazy glue," said Tanu, "but it'd still be awkward. Plus we don't have the proper equipment for this sort of thing."

"I'll try touching the beak as is," said Kendra. "Hand me the scroll. It just might work."

Kendra placed her left hand on the phoenix's beak, while she accepted the scroll from Tanu in her right. Even though the process was only supposed to take ten seconds to complete, she waited at least twenty before giving up.

"I guess it just doesn't work," stated Vanessa.

"There's gotta be some trick to this statue," said Raxtus. "Help me push it aside, Geminus."

Raxtus stepped around to the side of the statue and was followed by Geminus. Working together, they began shoving against the left side of the statue's body, but were unsuccessful in moving the monument.

"Need some help, amigos?" asked Felvanor.

"No, Felvanor," said Carlito. "I don't need you reptiles wrecking the statue any further. You folks are welcome to inspect the statue as much as you desire, but please refrain from damaging it more than it already is."

"We understand," said Geminus, as she and Raxtus backed away from the statue. "I really didn't think it was going to budge anyway, no matter what our strength."

"Now, Suzanne and I have our duties to attend to," said Carlito. "We'll leave you here to continue your investigation for the time being.

"If you're not finished by six thirty," said Suzanne, "return to the house. We'll fix dinner for you."

"See you later, and good luck," said Carlito, as he and Suzanne climbed onto Felvanor's back. Right then, Felvanor flew off to another part of the preserve.

"What do we do from here?" asked Kendra. "The best idea we've had was reattaching the head, and we don't have the means to do that as it stands.

"Maybe we could help," said Bright, appearing before Kendra.

"You fairies think you could fix the statue?" asked Kendra.

"We could give it a shot," said Clover, who suddenly made her entrance next to Warren.

"Where are Tiara and Opal?" asked Kendra.

"Oh, you know how stuck-up those two can be," said Bright. "You'll need to summon them yourself."

"Not a problem. Tiara! Opal! Come here!"

At that point, the two other fairies made their entrance by the sides of Tanu and Vanessa.

"Yes, Kendra?" asked Opal.

"Bright suggested that you fairies might be able to repair this statue. At least the head, if nothing else."

The four fairies flew around, inspecting the statue and its fallen parts before floating back to Kendra.

"I think this might be manageable for us," said Clover. "Two of you can lift the head, Tiara and I can reattach it."

"Come on, Opal," said Bright. "Let's get this head up to the statue's neck."

"All right," said Opal, as she and Bright flew up to the fallen head and sprinkled magical rainbow-colored and purple sparkles from their hands onto it. The golden head suddenly began to glow in a purplish hue, and rose up into the air, until it was resting into position with the statue's neck.

With the heading still floating in place, Clover and Tiara circled around the neck of the statue, unleashing streaks of green and orange sparkles in their paths. There was a bright flash of light, and when it disappeared, the four fairies flew back down to the ground.

The knights looked at the phoenix statue, and saw that the head was now back in its proper position. Warren placed his hand across the back of the phoenix's hand and ran it down the neck. "Wow. This thing feels like its brand new. Think you fairies are up to fixing the broken wing?"

"Let's just try the scroll now that the head is back on," said Kendra, gripping the scroll in one hand, while placing her other on the statue's beak.

As the ten seconds slowly passed, everyone but Kendra crossed their fingers. Suddenly, Kendra could feel the statue begin to move, prompting her to pull her hand back. The statue, though made of pure gold, began to shake its neck and flap its intact wing, as it magically came to life and started behaving like an actual bird. It gazed at the knights and the dragons, squawking as it waddled off of the pedestal. It attempted to flap its right wing, but was unable to get off the ground without the left one.

"Sorry about your wing," said Bright. "We fairies barely had enough magic to get your head back on!"

The phoenix squawked and nodded its head, then picked up its fallen wing with its intact one.

"Look, if we ever get through all this, we'll see to it that your wing gets restored," said Clover.

"Well, we moved the phoenix," said Tanu. "But where do we go from here?"

"Hey, it's loose," said Raxtus, as he pressed against the pedestal. "I could slide this thing right off."

The others all watched as Raxtus slid the pedestal aside with practically no difficulty. However, he uncovered nothing other than the large patch of dirt that had been obscured by the statue since its erection.

Without warning, a stairway leading underground magically appeared where the statue originally stood.

"No way," said Vanessa.

"Yes way,"said Warren, walking over to the top of the stairs and gazing down them. "If this vault really is in space, things are only going to get stranger."

The four knights ventured down the stairway, as did the dragons, both of whom were just small enough to fit though the passage. The four fairies opted to retreat for the time being. The walk underground reminded Kendra of when they had gone to Vertigo Volcano, only the bottom of the stairs wasn't nearly as deep as it had been back at the Hawaiian vault.

At the bottom of the stairs was a long, winding tunnel, made up mostly of large stone bricks and soil, kept alight completely by sun stones.

After walking down the straightforward tunnel for several minutes, the knights came across a smooth, metal door that was blocking their path.

"Great," muttered Vanessa. "Now what do we do?"

"Look," said Tanu, examing the side of the door, "There seems to be a keypad over here."

Kendra, Warren and Tanu huddled around Tanu, who directed their attention to the keypad that he spoke of. A panel no larger than a typical playing card, the keypad had ten keys, numbered from 1-9 plus 0, arranged like on a telephone.

"What's the password?" asked Warren.

"I believe it's written on the scroll," said Tanu, looking over at Kendra. Kendra instinctively unfurled the scroll and skimmed through it, until she came across the codes that were placed after the message.

"Keypad code," read Kendra aloud. "2-7-2-6-3-6-6."

As Tanu pushed each button, they emitted a small beeping noise. A second after the final one was pushed, a strange mechanical noise could be heard from behind the door, as it automatically opened up much like a garage door.

On the other side of the door was the end of the tunnel. On the other side was a large, cylindrical room made entirely out of metal. The walls were decorated with neon lights, but the real attention drawer was the grey vehicle situated in the middle of the room. Shaped like an oval and roughly the size of a city bus, the vehicle sported wings and fins.

"That's the spacecraft?" asked Kendra. "Whoa!"

"Wonder what kind of mileage this thing gets," said Warren, circling around the spacecraft. "There's only one door to this thing, and it's located on the backside."

The others came around to the back of the spacecraft, where Warren was waiting, leaning against the door with his hand. "We're gonna need another code, Kendra."

"It says that the door code for the ship is 6-8-5-5," said Kendra, having consulted the scroll.

Warren punched in the code to the keypad by the door, causing it to slide open.

Everyone stepped through the doorway, which was also just wide enough for Raxtus and Geminus to squeeze through. Now that they were inside the spacecraft, the group could see various lights and compartments that dotted the interior of the rear.

Walking towards the front of the ship, the group came across three rows of large, leather seats, similar to those found in the first class section of an airplane. Situated before the front row of seats, was a large console below the windshield with several keyboards and monitors, which were currently turned off.

"Let me get this straight," said Kendra. "The Knights of the Dawn travelled to the future, brought some people back to their time with none of their tools or resources, yet those people were still able to construct everything we've seen, plus the vault in outer space using nothing but conventional technology?"

"Of course not," said Warren. "They obviously built tools and equipment using their advanced know-how, and worked their way up. I mean, building something like Stonehenge would've been a snap if they'd built a crane beforehand."

Tanu sat down in one of the front row seats, and looked around at the console. "So, how do we get this thing working?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Vanessa. "We can't just blast off into space! I mean, we don't have a ton of food, and we don't know how long this trip could last. And what about oxygen? How much will this ship provide us with? What'll we do in case there's a failure? And power? How much gas does this spacecraft even consume?"

"She's right," said Warren. "We can't just take this shuttle for a joyride, not knowing the first thing about space travel."

Kendra thought to herself for a second, then remembered something. "My parents keep a manual for their car in the glove compartment. Maybe there's a manual around here somewhere."

"If it's anything like the other manuals we've found, you're probably gonna have to translate it for the rest of us," said Warren. "Does the scroll have any further directions on it?"

"No," said Kendra, looking over the scroll in her hands. They really don't want to make this easy."

"I propose that we try pressing a few buttons," said Vanessa. "If something goes wrong, we can always try to escape using the Disapirit."

"I get the feeling that the large red one along the bottom row is important," said Kendra, as she reached forward and pressed it. Suddenly, the entire console lit up and the monitors turned on.

"Kendra," said Warren, "what did you just DO?"

"Hello, there!" said a friendly, outgoing female voice.

"Who said that?" asked Raxtus.

"I did," answered the voice, which was coming from speaker. "I'm the ship's onboard computer. How can I help you?"

"It speaks English," said Vanessa. "Interesting."

"I recognized the language upon hearing you speak."

"Where are you?" asked Tanu, looking around.

"Right in front of you," said the computer. "I am in control the entire spacecraft! It's great to be activated again!"

"What's your name?" asked Geminus.

"Astro-Jet," answered the computer. "Same as the ship itself, since I _am_ the ship. Who are you guys?"

"We're Knights of the Dawn," said Tanu. "I'm Tanu. These people are Kendra, Vanessa and Warren. "The two dragons are Raxtus and Geminus."

"Nice to meet you!" said Astro-Jet. "I've been deactivated for hundreds of years! Tell me, what brings you folks all the way here?"

"A crisis has arisen," said Kendra. "Navarog has taken control of my brother and is hoarding the Drakesoul. We need to get it back in order to stop him and save my brother."

"Navarog?" asked Astro-Jet. "I've heard of him. But why do you seek my assistance if it's the Drakesoul you need?"

"It's complicated," said Warren. "We can't find a way to remove the Drakesoul, not without fatally wounding Navarog in the process. And if we killed Navarog, Kendra's brother Seth would die along with him."

"However, if we had the other four instruments at our disposal," continued Tanu, "we could potentially use their power to save Seth should we succeed in recovering the Drakesoul from Navarog."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Astro-Jet apologetically. "I'd be more than willing to transport you people to Silicon Station if that's the case. I just hope you don't have evil intentions in mind, even though you managed to discovered me without forced entry."

"We're not evil," said Kendra. "Please trust us."

"I sense positive energy readings from you, Kendra. I'll have to take your word for it."

"Before we go," said Vanessa. "How long is this trip going to take?"

"Roughly three hours and twelve minutes going one way."

"What about oxygen?" asked Tanu. "And power?"

"My battery will last forever, provided it is not heavily damaged. I absorb energy from electrons and protons in the atmosphere to keep my battery eternally charged. Do not worry about oxygen, you'll be fine."

"What about food?" asked Warren.

"Bring your own. However, you are welcome to store food in my refrigeration compartment if you so wish. Any further questions?"

"What can you tell us about Silicon Station?" asked Vanessa. "All we know is that it's supposedly located in the asteroid belt."

"Silicon Station is indeed located in the asteroid belt," replied Astro-Jet. "Although it was built in the past, the technology within the vault is ahead of your time, like myself. As long as you follow protocol, and don't violate any regulations, you'll be fine."

"You sure?" asked Warren. "The other vaults were full of booby-traps."

"Positive. Although Silicon Station has its own security system, authorized personnel should not experience any difficulty. This vault is designed to be user-friendly, yet well-guarded."

"So?" asked to the others Kendra. "Are we ready to go into outer space?"

"Have we all our provisions?" asked Vanessa.

"I believe so," answered Tanu. "We have food for days, and oxygen will not be a concern up there. We can depart immediately."

"All right!" shouted Warren. "Let's blastoff!"


	28. Beyond the Sky

**Chapter 28 – Beyond the Sky**

Kendra took a seat next to Warren in the front row behind the windshield of Astro-Jet, while Vanessa and Tanu sat in the row behind them. There was quite a bit of free space behind the seats, where Raxtus and Geminus opted to be stationed.

"Is everybody ready?" asked Astro-Jet.

"Not yet," said Tanu, feeling around his seat as if he had lost something. "Where are the seat belts?"

"I'd like to help you, but I'm afraid I do not know what a seat belt is. Perhaps you know of an alternate terminology?"

"Never mind," said Tanu, shaking his head. "At this rate, I just hope we get there in one piece."

"All right," said Astro-Jet. "I will be blasting off now."

"Wait a minute," said Vanessa. "We're underground! You can't blast off in here!"

"Entrance door closing," said Astro-Jet. Kendra quickly turned her head back and watched as the door slid shut, and could hear the spacecraft's engine start warming up. "Garage door now opening."

The knights watched on a monitor as the entire ceiling of the room slid open, revealing a tall shaft above it. Suddenly, Astro-Jet rose into the air, and boosted out of the shaft. Almost instantly, Astro-Jet rose above the preserve, having exited via a secret exit.

"We're going!" exclaimed Kendra. "We're going into outer space!"

Soon Astro-Jet rose above the clouds, followed by the stratosphere, until it had escaped from Earth's orbit. Kendra quickly got out of her seat and dashed over to a side window, which spanned an entire wall. Gazing out the window, Kendra could see the entire planet drifting beneath her.

"I never been able to fly this high," said Raxtus.

"Pretty cool, huh?" asked Warren, who had walked over next to Kendra and the dragons. "I think I can see my cottage from here."

"You wish!" said Vanessa, giving Warren a playful shove.

"Hey, if we pull this mission off and play our cards right, we really be able to _wish_."

"Astro-Jet," said Tanu, "is it safe for everyone to get up and walk around while you're zooming through space?"

"Absolutely. I'll be on auto-pilot the entire time, so don't worry about getting to Silicon Station."

Still looking out the window, Kendra looked back at the Earth, until they had travelled to the point where the planet appeared to be out of sight.

"I really hope these directions that were included in the scroll are really all we need for getting through the vault," said Tanu, looking over his notes. "This whole operation could be extremely dangerous if we aren't careful."

At that moment, Bright and Clover appeared beside Kendra and Warren, respectively.

"Hey, girls," said Kendra. "Are you here to look at the stars?"

"We could sense what was going on, and couldn't resist," said Clover, looking out the window while perched upon Warren's shoulder.

"How long's this trip supposed to take, anyway?" asked Bright.

"Roughly three more hours," answered Astro-Jet. "And who are you? I didn't sense your entry."

"Sorry," answered Bright. "We're fairy guardians, here to assist the knights."

"Understood."

"Too bad we can't see the moon from here," said Vanessa.

"Wait a minute," said Kendra. How much longer until Mars? I'd be cool if we got a good view of it."

"We may not necessarily pass Mars," answered Warren. "It's not often that the planets align with one another.

"My apologies," said Astro-Jet, "but I have been pre-programmed to transport all passengers directly to Silicon Station. This flight has no scheduled stops along the way, nor is it intended to be a sight-seeing tour. Thank you and have a nice day."

As the time went by, Kendra and the others played several games of cards, and ate some of Grandma Sorenson's homemade chocolate chip cookies for a snack. Towards the end of the session, Kendra and Warren were playing around with some of Astro-Jet's on-board features.

"If I knew this thing had its own microwave, I would've brought popcorn," said Warren, shutting a door in the kitchenette area.

"We will be arriving at Silicon Station in approximately two minutes," announced Astro-Jet.

Everyone on the ship stepped up to the front end of the ship, where they could see asteroid floating ahead in the distance.

"Uh, where's the vault?" asked Warren.

"Careful, Astro-Jet!" cried Kendra.

"I know what I'm doing," said Astro-Jet, swerving around several asteroids.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Vanessa. "There must be thousands of asteroids in the belt!"

"Do not panic. I have the exact coordinates in my memory. I will get you there without any problems. That is my duty."

Soon Astro-Jet approached a rather large asteroid. From what Kendra could tell, the space rock rivalled the Dreamstone or Pileus Palace in size. Astro-Jet travlled closer and closer to the asteroid, to the point where Kendra feared that they were going to crash into it.

Just before hitting the asteroid, a door, large enough for Astro-Jet to fit through, slid open in the wall of the asteroid. Astro-Jet slowed down as it entered the door, then flew inside the asteroid. Rather than being a cave of sorts, the colossal interior of the asteroid appeared to be furnished out of staggered metal plating and neon lights, much like Astro-Jet's hangar.

"Welcome to Silicon Station," said Astro-Jet, who had now come to a complete stop. "When you are ready, please exit via the rear door and enjoy your visit."

Picking up their bags and gear, Kendra, Warren, Vanessa, Tanu, Raxtus and Geminus all exited Astro-Jet. Looking around the room they were now in, Kendra assumed that they were in the docking bay of Silicon Station.

"Astro-Jet," said Kendra. "What do we do now?"

"I'm afraid that my only purpose was to transport you to this point. I am unable to help you from here on out, as I am not connected to Silicon Station's mainframe. I will be waiting here in the docking bay for your return."

"Okay then," said Vanessa somewhat cautiously.

Geminus snorted. "They really lowered the bar for transportation. I'd feel rejected if I couldn't help you beyond the front steps of Pileus Palace."

"Astro-Jet is a machine," said Warren. "Despite her outgoing personality, she doesn't have any desire to do anything that goes beyond her programming. Or so I think."

"Looks like the only exit to the room, other than the way we came, is that door over there," said Tanu, pointing to an enormous door along the far wall. He then led the group over to the door itself.

"Another one of those password doors," said Warren. "Part of me just wants to use the Disapirit to bypass these silly obstacles and just snag the Accelerizer.

"It's best we don't do that," said Tanu. "We wouldn't want to risk the consequence of a security breach in here. We'd best play by their rules. Only as a last resort should we try using the instruments for any reason."

"I know," said Warren, as he looked at his notes and punched the corresponding code into the keypad, causing it to slide open.

The knights passed through the door, and entered a small room on the other side.

"Who are you?" asked a drone-like, monotonous voice.

The knights glanced around the room, and saw what had to be a robot standing at the other end, staring at them. The robot was fairly humanoid, resembling what could best be described as a metal mannequin. Its neon blue, rectangular, cycloptic eye was gleaming brightly, to the point where Kendra thought the robot was staring into her soul.

"Answer me," said the robot. "Or I will have you eliminated."

"We're-" began Warren cautiously. "We're Knights of the Dawn. We came here in search of the Accelerizer."

"I have no way to determine if you are telling the truth or not. But I am obligated to trust you since information pertaining to Silicon Station and its existence has been kept top secret among the Knights of the Dawn."

"Who are you?" asked Kendra.

"I am Robort. I am the attendant of Silicon Station. My job is to keep the Accelerizer in its place until the Knights of the Dawn come here to retrieve it in the name of good."

"So, you'll give it to us?" asked Warren.

"Not immediately. I must verify that your group is trustworthy, or I will have failed at my duty. Please tell me your names. All of you."

"I'm Tanugatoa Dufu, but everyone calls me Tanu."

"Warren Burgess, in the flesh!"

"I'm Kendra Sorenson."

"My name is Vanessa Santoro."

"Raxtus, uh no last name."

"And I'm Geminus, also with no last name."

"Thank you," said Robort. "Follow me, please."

Robort led the group of six through another door and entered a long hallway.

"What brings you to Silicon Station?" asked Robort. "All known information about Silicon Station is restricted."

"It's a long story," said Kendra. "But we've been looking for the instruments of eternal power."

"And how did you learn about them? The instruments of eternal power were to be kept a secret indefinitely."

"Well they were," said Vanessa. "But this knowledge was contained in a tome written thousands of years ago."

"So you managed to find the tome and decipher it, correct?"

"Correct."

"And you managed to find all the clues leading you up to this point?" asked Robort.

"Also correct."

"Interesting. You obviously seek the instruments of eternal power greatly. Why?"

"Well, we wanted to have the ability to grant wishes," said Kendra. "Nothing malicious, though. Just to help those who need it. But that's not all. My brother has been possessed by a powerful demon by the name of Navarog, and-"

"Navarog?" asked Robort. "He is the demon prince, correct? I was led to believe he was in captivity in the dungeon at Fablehaven."

"He was freed through an act of treason," replied Kendra. "Long story short, Navarog got a hold of the Drakesoul and is possessing my brother. We need the Accelerizer to stop Navarog and save him."

"Navarog has the Drakesoul," said Robort. "That is bad. How did he find it?"

"Since he was posing as my brother, Navarog snatched it from us after we'd recovered it from Vertigo Volcano. He took us all by surprise."

"Had you not gone after the instruments of eternal power in the first place, you wouldn't be in this predicament."

"Navarog still would've been possessing Seth. Um, that's my brother's name, by the way."

"Understood. That is most unfortunate. I have a robot warrior that could defeat Navarog for you, but he is not permitted to leave the premises."

"That won't be necessary," said Vanessa. "We don't need help destroying Navarog. Besides, if we did, we'd be killing Seth in the process."

"How would the Accelerizer be of use to you?" asked Robort. "How would it help you fell Navarog?"

"Well, we already have the Sizeshifter, Essence of Immunity and the Disapirit," said Warren. "If we had the Accelerizer, we could cut open Navarog, snag the Drakesoul and form the Omega Star. With it, we could quickly rescue Seth before his perishes along with Navarog. Better yet, we could slow down time with the Accelerizer to make the procedure a whole lot easier and safer!"

"Never thought of that," said Tanu. "Good thinking, Warren."

"It is not my job to judge what the Knights of the Dawn do with the Accelerizer, provided that they are not imposters with evil intentions. I must still verify that you are being truthful."

"Please listen," said Kendra. "We've come so far in search of the Accelerizer! We're really being sincere and honest. We have to have it! If we don't get the Accelerizer, after all we've been through, I may never be able to save my brother."

"You do not need to win my sympathy, for I have no emotions."

"How much proof do you need?" exclaimed Kendra, as tears starting formin in her eyes.

"I need to be absolutely sure that you are not traitorous."

"I'm fairykind!" exclaimed Kendra, wiping tears from her eyes. "Please you've got to believe me."

Vanessa pulled a tissue from her pocket and gave it to Kendra, who dabbed it across her eyes.

"Although I have no emotions, I can sense those of living beings," said Robort, stopping in front of another huge door. I am beginning to comprehend where you are coming from. However, I still need to make sure that I am entrusting the Accelerizer to people who actually need it.

The door that Robort was standing next to opened automatically, as if by some sort of built-in remote control. Inside the room were several comfortable chairs made out of leather. "Have a seat."

As the knights sat down, Raxtus and Geminus waited next to the chairs.

"Man, I'm starving," said Tanu. "I shouldn't have skipped eating those cookies on the ride over."

"I'm afraid that our facilities do not have any food," said Robort.

"I left the cooler on Astro-Jet," said Tanu.

"Want me to run back to the ship?" asked Warren.

"This will only take a few minutes," said Robort. "Be patient."

"Is Tanu hungry?" asked Bright, who had suddenly appeared. "Have a sandwich!"

Before anyone could react to Bright's sudden appearance, the fairy had already summoned a turkey sandwich to appear in Tanu's hand."

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Robort.

"I was just about to ask the same thing!" exclaimed Tanu.

"This fairy has not been accounted for," said Robort.

"Oh, don't worry about Bright," said Kendra. "She's my fairy guardian."

"Intruder! You are sneaking unauthorized personnel into a restricted area!"

"Don't get so worked up," said Kendra. "She's on our side!"

"Intruder! You are violating section 5-A of Silicon Station's visitor policy. All visitors are to report to me upon entry. This fairy did not report, therefore she is in violation."

"It was a mistake," said Tanu. "Take it easy!"

"You people cannot be trusted. Please leave immediately."

"We're not leaving without the Accelerizer," said Vanessa."

"You must."

"Now, listen here!" said Warren. "We've gone to absurd heights trying to get this blasted Accelerizer! And no binary-brained-bucket-of-bolts is gonna stop us!"

"Leave peacefully or else."

"Stupid machine," said Warren. "He's just sitting there."

"This is your last chance."

"You got an off switch, Robort?" asked Warren.

"You have asked for it. Prepare to be eliminated."

"Shut up," said Vanessa, having removed the Sizeshifter from her bag. She then shot a blast of orange energy at Robort, shrinking him until he was no bigger than an action figure. "He wasn't so scary. Maybe now he'll cooperate with us."

At that moment, the huge door to the room opened up, prompting everyone to look over at it. Standing on the other side was a a large, robotic dragon.

"You are intruders!" said the dragon in a deep, menacing voice. "You must be destroyed!"


	29. Accelerizer

**Chapter 29 – Accelerizer**

Kendra, Warren, Tanu, Vanessa, Raxtus and Geminus all stared at the massive robotic dragon that was standing before them in the large doorway. In addition to is great physical size, the dragon appeared to have numerous cannons and barrels mounted across its body.

"Robort has informed me that you are in violation of Silicon Station's visitor policy," said the dragon, aiming his arm at the group. You must be eliminated."

"Why?" asked Kendra. "We mean you no harm! This is a mistake!"

"Robort does not make mistakes. And I, Gygaxton 9000, have been ordered to eliminate you."

"Look out!" shouted Warren, as a laser shot out of rod situated on Gygaxtron 9000's raised arm. The knights barely managed to dodge the blast.

"I got him!" said Vanessa, as she quickly aimed the Sizeshifter at Gygaxtron 9000 and unleashed a beam of orange energy directly at the robot.

"That Sizeshifter does not affect me," said Gygaxtron 9000, enduring the hit. "Now it's my turn to shoot you."

"Vanessa!" shouted Tanu, as he dove into her, knocking her aside. Now Tanu was now standing directly in Gygaxtron's line of fire. However, even though Gyaxtron 9000's laser was focused on Tanu, it did not harm him.

"You must succumb to my laser," said Gygaxtron 9000, as he aimed the laser cannon on his other arm at Tanu and fired away. It was at this point that Kendra noticed the glowing Essence on Immunity that Tanu was clenching in his hands. "Subject appears to be hoarding the Essence of Immunity. He is impossible to harm. Must eliminate other targets."

"Vanessa," said Tanu. "Grab hold! You too, Geminus! The rest of you use the Disapirit!"

As Vanessa and Geminus placed their hands on the glowing Essence of Immunity, Warren pulled out the Disapirit. As Raxtus placed his hand on the instrument in Warren's hands, Gyaxtron 9000 attempted to shoot Kendra with his laser.

"Help!" cried Kendra, as she ran across the room for her life.

"Over here!" exclaimed Warren. However, Kendra had run over to the other side of the room, and was now up against the wall.

"Die," uttered Gygaxtron 9000.

"Leave her alone!" snarled Raxtus, leaping onto Gygaxtron 9000. Raxtus attempted to overwhelm Gyaxtron with sheer physical strength, but was far too small and weak in comparison to the large robot.

"Kendra," said Warren, as he ran up to where she was standing, "touch the Disapirit and come with me."

Without hesitation, Kendra touched the Disapirit, and Warren used it to render both of them incorporeal.

"Come with me," said Warren. Still holding the Disapirit, the two of them ran over to Gygaxtron 9000, who was attempting to shoot the currently invisible dragon.

"Do not think you can hide from me," said Gygaxtron 9000, firing his lasers at what appeared to be nothing.

"Raxtus!" said Kendra. "Come over here!"

"Now!" said Warren, as he restored his and Kendra's tangibility. Raxtus quickly became visible and dashed over to Kendra and Warren, placing his claw on the Disapirit. Warren then used the Disapirit to render all three of them incorporeal, but not invisible.

"Ha!" said Warren with a grin, as several lasers shot through him, Kendra and Raxtus without any harm, leaving singes on the floor behind them.

"Attacking you three is impossible now."

"Good riddance," said Raxtus, directing Kendra and Warren's attention to his left leg where he now had a perfectly straight bleeding slash. "Stupid thing got a hit on me."

"Are you okay?" asked Kendra.

"I'll be fine. We should be thankful he didn't get any more shots in."

"What are you going to do now, Gygaxtron?" asked Geminus in a teasing voice. "You can't hurt us now. What're you gonna do about _that_?"

"If you three are impervious to damage, then I will dispose of you using another method."

Gygaxtron 9000 began walking over to Tanu, Vanessa and Geminus, claws outstretched.

"Onto my back," said Geminus, grabbing the two humans in both her claws and placing them on her back. She then darted over to the door to the room, but it would not open up for her.

"You cannot escape," said Gyaxtron 9000, as he approached the invulnerable trio.

"I got an idea," said Vanessa, using the Sizeshifter to make Geminus grow larger, until she was the same size as Gyaxtron 9000 himself.

"Nice," said Geminus. "Now he can pick on someone his own size."

Geminus slammed her tail against Gygaxtron 9000, but the robot didn't so much as even flinch upon impact.

"That was harmless," said Gygaxtron, grabbing Geminus by her right wing. Come with me."

Geminus struggled to escape from Gygaxtron's grip, but failed, even after Vanessa shrunk the fairy dragon back down to her proper size.

"Let her go!" shouted Kendra. "Oh, I wish there was some way we could help against that horrible machine! I feel worthless."

"We really weren't prepared for this," said Raxtus. "I'm starting to regret coming here."

"Drink this!" said Tanu, as he learned forward and poured a potion into Geminus' mouth. Moments later, the dragon became gaseous, causing Tanu and Vanessa, still holding the Essence of Immunity, to fall to the floor. At the very least, Geminus was safe for the moment.

"I don't know how we can stop that thing," said Kendra. "It's too powerful! Not even the Sizeshifter will work on it."

"Why don't we use the Disapirit on all six of us?" asked Raxtus. "That way we'd all be safe from Gygaxtron 9000."

"The Disapirit, like the Essence of Immunity, won't work on more than three beings at once," said Warren. "If we're going to get through this, we're going to have to find a way to stop Gygaxtron 9000."

"But how?" asked Kendra. "Nothing seems to work."

"I have a hunch," said Warren. "Gygaxtron 9000 came as soon as Robort deemed us intruders, right?"

Kendra and Raxtus nodded.

"Well, Astro-Jet mentioned that Silicon Station has a mainframe of some sort, which is likely a servo that the robots are linked to. If we can find this mainframe, maybe we can deactivate Gygaxtron 9000 with it."

"It's worth a try," said Kendra, watching as Gygaxtron 9000 held Geminus and her two riders into the air.

"Do not resist me," said Gygaxtron 9000.

"Hang in there!" said Warren. "We're going to try and find a way out of this predicament!"

"Where do we go?" asked Kendra.

"I dunno," said Raxtus. "Maybe through a wall?"

"No," said Warren. "If we make a wrong move, we might walk out of the vault and into space. We should only pass through visible doors."

Kendra and Warren got on Raxtus' back, and the incorporeal dragon ran directly through the door to the room. Seconds later, the door opened, and Gygaxtron 9000 stepped out, holding Geminus.

"Get back here, or I will eliminate these three."

"We can't hold him off forever," said Vanessa, gripping onto Geminus' back. "Even with the Essence of Immunity."

"I've got an idea," said Raxtus, pressing firmly against the Disapirit. At that moment, Raxtus, Kendra and Warren, already incorporeal, were now rendered invisible as well.

"What'll that do?" asked Warren.

"You two make a run for it with the Disapirit," whispered Raxtus. "I'll stay here to try and help the others. As long as he thinks we're together, I'll stay invisible under my own power, and hopefully, he won't detect me."

"It's worth a shot," said Kendra. "But you'll only get once chance."

"Let's hope it's all I need."

Kendra and Warren felt as Raxtus released his grip from the Disapirit, then scurried through a nearby door. On the other side was another hallway.

"Now what do we do?" asked Kendra.

"I'm not sure," said Warren. "We need to find the mainframe, wherever that is."

The door that the two of them had passed through suddenly opened. Standing on the other side was Gygaxtron 9000.

"So much for this place being user friendly," muttered Warren."

"I know you're in here," said Gygaxtron 9000. "This is a restricted area. Leave or your friends will be eliminated.

"Give me a break," said Geminusm her wing still in Gygaxtron 9000's grip. "You can't hurt us as long as we have the Essence of Immunity."

"I will not be the direct cause of your termination," said Gygaxtron 9000. "Listen to me, ghostly intruders. Surrender now, or your friends will be ejected into space."

"I only have three more potions," said Tanu, passing bottles to Vanessa and Geminus.

"We gotta hurry," whispered Warren. "Those potions don't last too long, and you cannot pass through solid walls in a gaseous form."

"Let's get outta here," said Kendra, as she and Warren, both holding the Disapirit, dashed through the hallway, Gyaxtron 9000 appeared to be confused, then focused his sights on the three gaseous bodies floating around him.

"We don't have much time," said Warren, as they reached the end of the hallway and passed through another door, much too small for Gygaxtron 9000 to fit through. In this next room was a large computer console.

"Is this it?" asked Kendra."That wasn't so hard."

"I hope so," said Warren. "But we're gonna have to release our hold on the Disapirit to do anything with this computer.

"Is there a code for this computer?" asked Kendra.

"I hope so," said Warren, as he pulled out his notes and began skimming through them.

At that point, the door opened up, and Gygaxtron 9000, too large to pass through it, poked his head inside and blasted a stream of fire from his mouth. Kendra used the Disapirit to become incorporeal, causing the fire to pass through her. Gygaxtron 9000 then attempted to shoot Warren, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Uh oh," gasped Warren. "It burned my paper."

"I'll get you this time," said Gygaxtron 9000, as Warren leapt onto the console. "Get down from there immediately."

"Or what?" asked Warren. "I bet you're programmed to keep this room safe. Because it's important to you. That's why you've refrained from using your long range lasers in here. Well, that and because you're too big to fit."

"Good observation," said Gygaxtron 9000, as his neck telescoped outwards into the room, his head closing in on Warren.

"What's he doing?" asked Kendra.

"I believe the scientific term for this is "Go-go-gadget neck," cried Warren, leaping out of the way before Gygaxtron 9000 could clench him with his massive razor-like teeth.

"We gotta shut off this computer!" said Kendra.

"But it's probably very durable, and I lost the access code!" exclaimed Warren, who was dancing atop the console, trying to avoid Gygaxtron 9000.

"I got it!" said Kendra. Still incorporeal, she passed through the front of the console, and was now physically inside of the computer. With her ability to see in the dark, she could see circuit boards and wires surrounding her.

"Here goes nothing," said Kendra, drawing Vasilis and slashing through several pieces of machinery. Electric sparks were flying everywhere, nearly electrocuting Kendra in the process.

"Kendra," came Warren's voice from outside, "what did you just _do_?"

Kendra passed out of the computer, and immediately noticed Gygaxtron 9000 acting very strangely. Instead of attacking Warren, the robot dragon was twisting its head back and forth. Its red eyes were blinking off and on, and its mouth was opening and closing uncontrollably.

"Mainframe down. Mainframe down. Ghost in the machine. Does not compute. I am... error."

"Look out!" cried Warren, as fire shot out of the flamethrower concealed inside Gygaxtron 9000's mouth. "It's glitching up."

"Glitching?" asked Kendra. "What do we do now?"

"Take advantage of the situation," said Warren. "Clover, come here."

"What's going on?" asked Clover, making her entrance.

"Look, Gygaxtron 5000," said Warren. "Another intruder."

"That is not... 5000," said Gygaxtron. "9000. Intruder, not welcome."

"It's on the fritz now that I messed with the mainframe," said Kendra. "I don't whether to celebrate or cry."

"Clover, try and get inside the dragon. See what makes him tick. It's a machine, so don't worry about hurting him."

"I'll try," said Clover, vanishing in a green cloud of sparkles. A moment later, she reappeared. "This is crazy! Bright, I need your help with this!"

Before Kendra or Warren could ask, Bright appeared and disappeared along with Clover just as quickly. Several seconds later, Gygaxtron 9000 stopped dead in his tracks. The lights in his eyes suddenly shut off, and his head fell down against the floor.

"What did you do?" asked Kendra, breathing a sigh of relief along with Warren.

"We made some of his internal wiring disappear," said Bright. "We don't know much about electronics, but it seemed to make sense when we looked at it. Besides, that is what you did to the computer, correct?"

"He's still blocking the doorway," said Warren. "Kendra, we'll use the Disapirit to get out of here."

Kendra made herself solid again, allowing Warren to touch the Disapirit, and the two of them passed through the wall into the hallway where Gygaxtron 9000's motionless body was standing, crouched over.

"Kendra!" shouted Tanu, as he, Vanessa, Geminus and Raxtus came running down the hallway towards them. "Warren! What happened?"

"To put it simply," began Warren, we messed with Gygaxtron 9000's programming, and our fairies managed to deactivate him."

"Thank god," said Vanessa. "He would've tossed us out the airlock when we became solid."

"Not only that," said Bright, "but Clover and I saw that he's got the instrument!"

"Both of them" said Raxtus, pointing to Gygaxtron 9000. "He's got the Essence of Immunity in one claw, and the Sizeshifter in the other."

"We dropped them upon becoming gaseous," said Vanessa. "So he seized them."

"That's not what we meant," said Bright. "Look."

Bright and Clover flew above Gygaxtron 9000's back, and Bright used her magic to make a section of the robot's back disappear.

"How'd you do that?" asked Geminus. "I thought he was magic-proof, or something."

"Not really," said Clover. "You couldn't use your instrument on him because of this..."

Clover then used her magic to lift something out of the gap Bright had made in Gygaxtron 9000's back. As it rose into the air, everyone could see what it actually was; the Accelerizer.

"It-" gasped Vanessa, "was inside Gygaxtron 9000 the whole time?"

"Guess Navarog wasn't the only dragon to hide an instrument inside his body," said Warren.

Clover levitated the Accelerizer away from Gygaxtron 9000 and into Warren's open hands. Kendra took a good look at the final instrument; a sapphire embedded in a golden base.

"I don't get it," said Kendra. "What was it doing in Gygaxtron 9000? When I saw the Accelerizer through the Occulus, it was in perpetual use."

"I cannot comprehend as to how it could've been using the Accelerizer," said Tanu, shaking his head. "This instrument enables the user to move extremely quickly. And that dragon was not moving all that fast."

"It may have been to purposely keep the instrument in an endless use, probably so that one could _not_ properly observe it through the Occulus," said Warren. "Maybe Gygaxtron 9000 was programmed to operate really slowly, only to move at a normal speed through the Accelerizer."

"Or maybe it took a negative feed from the Accelerizer," stated Vanessa, causing it to move much more slowly, by its standards, anyway."

"Who cares?" asked Raxtus. "We got the Accelerizer finally. Let's go home!"

As the group walked down the hallway, Kendra stared back at the motionless Gygaxtron 9000, its neck still crammed in the doorway to the computer room. As devastating as it had been, the thing was only a machine, and was only following its programming. She couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for it.

To pass through the sealed doorways on the way back to the docking bay, the group took turns using the Disapirit. When they made it back, to their relief, they saw that Astro-Jet was still parked in her original position. Tanu entered the access code into Astro-Jet's entry door, and the group boarded the ship.

"Did your mission go smoothly?" asked Astro-Jet, once she closed her door.

"There were a few... technical difficulties," said Warren, "but we got what we came for."

"Are you all ready to depart?" asked Astro-Jet.

"YES!" shouted Kendra, worried that for some reason, Gygaxtron 9000 would enter the docking bay and stop them from leaving.

"Okay," said Astro-Jet, warming up her engines, "let's go! Next destination, planet Earth."

The door to the docking bay opened up, and Astro-Jet rose into the air, before blasting out into the asteroid belt. On one of Astro-Jet's monitors, Kendra watched as Silicon Station shrank in distance.

Kendra sat down in a seat in the same row as Warren, but at the other end. On the seat between them lay the four instruments they currently owned. For the time being they had been merged together, almost forming a five-point star, as one piece was missing.

"Just one instrument to go," said Warren. "The Drakesoul. When we get home, we're gonna hunt Navarog down and reclaim it for ourselves."

Warren extended the palm of his hand to Kendra, and she responded by giving him five.

"And... we'll _finally_ save Seth," added Kendra.


	30. Return to Fablehaven

**Chapter 30 – Return to Fablehaven**

As Astro-Jet soared through outer space, the Knights of the Dawn were waiting out the ride back home to Earth.

"So," said Kendra, looking down at the four instruments between Warren and herself. "We finally got this Accelerizer. "Think we should test it now that we have some time?"

"Maybe for a minute," said Warren. "Which might actually only take a split second if you're moving really fast.

Warren picked up the Accelerizer, and gave it a good look. "Well, here goes nothing."

The Accelerizer glowed in Warren's hands, before something strange suddenly happened to Warren. He froze instantly.

"Warren!" cried Kendra, looking at her motionless cousin. "Tanu! Vanessa! Help!"

"Don't touch anything!" said Tanu, getting up from his seat. "Warren must've accidentally triggered a negative charge from the Accelerizer. We need to remove it from his grasp without making contact with him, otherwise, we could slow down too! Tiara, remove the instrument from Warren."

Tiara appeared and sprinked some sparkles onto Warren's hands, causing them to drop the Accelerizer onto the seat with the other instruments.

"What are you doing?" asked Warren, looking down at the Accelerizer.

"You just activated the slow-mode for that thing," said Vanessa. "Tiara had to magically remove it from your hands to bring you back to speed."

"Really?" asked Warren. "I didn't notice a thing. Maybe I need to hold it a certain way to make it work in reverse, like with the Sizeshifter."

Warren picked up the Accelerizer again, this time holding it upside-down, so that the physical gem was in his hands. The Accelerizer began to glow, and it suddenly disappeared, along with Warren.

"Over here!" came Warren's voice from the rear end of the ship. The others looked back at him, but he quickly disappeared and reappeared back at the front end.

"Wow!" gasped Kendra. "That took no time at all."

"It didn't feel like it," said Warren. "You guys were as still as statues. I could've crawled and I still would've been too fast to follow."

"Didn't Patton speculate that the Chronometer had similar features to this?" asked Tanu. "Plus it could also send the user through time. Mind you, this thing seems much easier to use. I'd dare say that the Chronometer is the enhanced successor to the Accelerizer."

"Perhaps they wanted to restrict time travel when they were designing the Accelerizer," said Vanessa.

"If only we could speed up Astro-Jet with that thing," said Raxtus. "It would sure make this trip a lot faster."

"I'm afraid that I am unable to operate any of those instruments," replied Astro-Jet. "But don't worry, we'll be arriving at Rio Branco no later than the elapsed time of the first trip."

"Rio Branco?" asked Warren. "No offense, but why not just drop us off at Fablehaven? It's where we're going anyway."

"Sorry," said Astro-Jet, "but I have been pre-programmed to travel strictly between Rio Branco and Silicon Station."

"Does that mean that you'll no longer serve a purpose after this?" asked Kendra.

"I'm afraid so. No one will need to visit Silicon Station again now that you've retrieved the Accelerizer. I will no longer be of service to you."

"And I wouldn't dare mess with Astro-Jet's programming," said Warren. "I bet she doesn't even have a manual."

Some time later, Astro-Jet approached Earth, and soared downwards towards the country of Brazil. Everyone on board watched as the spacecraft lowered down towards the planet, homing in on the Brazilian wilderness. Soon it was less than a mile above the ground, and had centered in on Rio Branco. The ruins that it had initially blasted out of slid open, revealing a passageway back to its underground hangar, when it ultimately stopped.

"Welcome back," said Astro-Jet. "Thank you for flying."

"Goodbye, Astro-Jet," said Kendra, as she and the others disembarked from the spacecraft. They left the hangar the same way the first entered, passing through the metal door and into the dug-out underground tunnel.

When the group rose to surface of Rio Branco, the stairwell leading underground suddenly vanished, as if it had magically been filled in with soil.

"Guess now that we've claimed the Accelerizer, the path to Silicon Station no longer needs to remain open," said Vanessa.

"The phoenix," said Kendra, directing everyone's attention to the nearby living statue. "Fairies, please fix the broken wing."

Bright, Clover, Tiara and Opal all appeared and used their powers to repair the broken wing, much like they had done for the head, by placing the wing against the statue's body and magically welding them together. The statue cawed, then stayed nearly motionless.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Kendra. "It's just standing there."

"It's animated," said Warren, "not unlike Hugo or Mendigo. However, it has no free will."

"Can we keep it?" asked Geminus.

"Absolutely not," said Tanu, pulling out his cell phone. "It belongs to this preserve, anyway. I'm going to tell Carlito we got what we came for, and we can get going."

"So, how're we gonna tell the others back home that we got the Accelerizer?" asked Warren, climing onto Raxtus' back.

"Let's surprise them," said Kendra. "Instead of calling ahead, we'll just show up with the Accelerizer unannounced."

"Sounds like it might be fun," added Vanessa. "Plus it might be our only chance. Who knows what'll happen once we get hold of the Drakesoul."

Raxtus and Geminus soon took off into the sky, flying away northbound from Rio Branco. Along the way back to Fablehaven, the group stopped at a restaurant in Puerto Rico, the same one they had eaten at on their trip to Pileus Palace.

By the time they reached New England, it was nightfall. Soon they would be home again. Kendra remembered coming this way before, both times from the JFK Airport. First was when Warren had been transformed into a falcon, and was flying her home after the incident at Frozen Fortress. Second was after their adventure at Pileus Palace.

At long last, Fablehaven was in the distance. Before long, Raxtus and Geminus soared downwards, until they were flying over the forest that spanned across the preserve.

The dragons came to a halt, once they reached the yard. Right away, everyone immediately noticed something felt wrong. Something was different.

"The house!" gasped Kendra. "What happened?"

In place of where the house normally stood, was a large mound of stones and wood, as the place had seemingly been demolished.

"What's going on?" asked Vanessa, her voice full of fear.

"Welcome home," said a booming, familiar voice, that sent a chill through Kendra's body.

"Navarog..."

The ground shook in a tremor, prompting everyone to look over at an edge of the forest, which bordered part of the yard. From behind the trees, Navarog rose up from a crouching position and onto his hind legs. Entire trees snapped in two as Navarog's body brushed against them, walking towards the group.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Tanu fiercely.

"You think I was just gonna sit around while you collected the remaining instruments?" asked Navarog. "Hardly. It was bad enough that you scared off most of my followers when you paid me a little visit in Iceland. Thought you could get both my instruments that time, didn't you?"

"It _almost_ worked," muttered Warren under his breath.

"Did you really think I was that stupid?" asked Navarog. "I'm well aware of the Occulus, and how you most likely used it to track me down. So, I swallowed some Grovelins to keep the Drakesoul guarded within my body in case you dared to try and go after it again."

"Then why are you here?" asked Vanessa.

Navarog snorted. "A Grovelin. I knew you'd be going to Pileus Palace after our last encounter, so I sent a Grovelin along for the ride. When you knights fought with my minions, the Grovelin crawled into Vanessa's bag undetected. You then brought him here, essentially smuggling him into the preserve."

The knights couldn't believe what they were hearing. Part of Kendra wanted to hear the rest of what Navarog was saying, the other wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

"While he was here, he relayed information to me through an enchanted pocket mirror."

Kendra immediately thought of the coins that Bracken had used in lieu of walkie-talkies back during the whole Zzyzx incident.

"The Grovelin spied on you guys. Told me about everything you were up to. Almost got duped when you came back early and empty-handed from Labrador Labyrinth. But I figured it was for real once you went off to look for Silicon Station. So while you guys were up in space playing astronauts, my Grovelin destroyed the register and invited me over."

"What did you do to my family?" yelled Kendra.

"I don't know," answered Navarog confidently. "That boorish Dale ran inside to warn everyone, so I brought the house down on them."

"No..." gasped Kendra, her entire body trembling with fear.

"Now," said Navarog, "give me the instruments peacefully, and I will spare your miserable lives."

"NEVER!" yelled Tanu, as he pulled the Sizeshifter out of his bag. "Kendra! Warren! Vanessa! Take an instrument and guard it with your lives! I'll stop Navarog!"

Kendra accepted the Disapirit from Tanu, while Warren and Vanessa received the Essence of Immunity and Accelerizer respectively.

Tanu then clenched the Sizeshifter, and grew up in size until he was as big as Navarog.

"At last," said Navarog. "I get to pick on somebody my own size."

Tanu wielded his sword and slashed away at Navarog with it. However, Navarog dodged the blade and unleashed a massive wave of fire point blank at Tanu. It burned the foliage behind Tanu, but only charred his clothing at best.

"Fireproof potion," said Tanu. "Do your worst."

Navarog lunged at Tanu, pinning him to the ground with his immense strength. He then clawed away at Tanu's body, hacking and slashing through much of the Samoan's upper body, until he dropped the Sizeshifter.

"Thank you," said Navarog, getting off of the unconscious Tanu and picking up his fallen instrument. "Still not sure how this thing works, but I don't really care. But I'll give it a good home."

With that, Navarog popped the Sizeshifter into his mouth, much like he had originally done with the Drakesoul. "Now, who's next?"

"I'll stop him," said Vanessa. "The rest of you, get back!"

Kendra heeded Vanessa's orders and scrambled onto Raxtus' back, while Warren did the same with Geminus. Vanessa then clenched the Accelerizer in her hands, confident that her plan to slow down time would enable her to stop Navarog.

Navarog stomped over to where Vanessa was standing, just as the Accelerizer flashed in her hands. Kendra looked up at Navarog, as if nothing had happened.

"NO!" shouted Warren, pointing to Vanessa. His girlfriend was still holding the Accelerizer crystal-side up, seemingly immobilized. "That's the wrong way!"

"Is this a trick?" asked Navarog, picking up Vanessa in one claw and examining her motionless body. "I'm disappointed. This was too easy."

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" shouted Warren, drawing his sword, while Geminus began flapping her wings and rose into the air.

Navarog huffed, stuffing Vanessa into his mouth, complete with the Accelerizer, and proceed to chew away at her body, as if he were eating cookies.

"NO!" blared Warren. Kendra could feel his emotions, but had never seen Warren so angry before. "Navarog, you're _dead_! Seth be damned!"

As if she could read Warren's mind, Geminus flew over towards Navarog. Warren then held his arm back and tossed his sword directly at the demon prince's temple, as if it were a javelin.

"That hurt," said Navarog calmly, drawing Warren's sword from his bleeding face before crushing it like a paper cup. He then leapt into the air and flew after Warren and Geminus, chasing them across the preserve. Raxtus instinctively followed with Kendra in tow, but made sure to keep his distance.

"Gotcha," said Navarog, clenching Geminus in both of his claws. Navarog completely dwarfed the fairy dragon, almost like a human holding a cat. "Now, give me the Essence of Immunity."

"NEVER!" shouted Warren, using the instrument's power on both himself and Geminus.

"Then I'll just take it from you," said Navarog, freeing a claw from his grasp on Geminus and using it to try and pry Warren's arms off the Essence of Immunity. "Give it to me!"

"You're NOT getting it!" said Warren, refusing to let go of the instrument, despite Navarog's overwhelming strength. "You'll never so much as harm me as long as I don't give up."

"Then perhaps a different approach is in order," said Navarog, still holding Geminus and Warren in his grasp, as hew flew over to another part of the preserve. Keeping their distance, Raxtus and Geminus followed.

Navarog approached the naiad's pond, where Kendra could see that not only was the rainbow bridge missing, but that the shrine on the island was in ruins.

"Give me the Essence of Immunity now, or I'll drown you. Normally, that's the naiads' duty, but given their fear of my presence, I'll gladly fill in for them."

"Raxtus," said Kendra, "can't we do something?"

"I dunno," answered Raxtus, watching as Navarog slowly lowered Warren and Geminus towards the surface of the pond. "I could use the Disapirit to rescue them, but that'd put one of us in danger, since it only works on three beings at once."

"I don't know what to do," muttered Kendra, her entire body shivering. The best they could do was buy Geminus and Warren a bit of time with Vasilis, but even still, Navarog was fast, and could catch up with anyone.

"All right!" snarled Warren, barely a foot above the pond. "I'll give you the Essence of Immunity! But put me down on dry land first."

"Isn't it better when we all cooperate?" asked Navarog, placing Geminus and Warren on the ground, away from the pond. "Now, get off that pathetic excuse for a dragon, place the Essence of Immunity on the ground, and back off!"

Warren hesitated, as he climbed off of Geminus' back, still holding the Essence of Immunity. He then looked up at Navarog. "I don't trust you. You're going to attack me."

"You've got ten seconds," said Navarog.

"Fly!" said Warren, grabbing Geminus' claw. The dragon immediately took off, as Navarog counted down from ten.

"Five-four-three-two..."

Just as Navarog finished counting, the Essence of Immunity had been thrown from Warren's direction, where it landed on the ground near Navarog. Navarog picked up his fourth instrument, and swallowed it just as he had with the others. Instead of looking for Kendra, Navarog flew off into the air, in pursuit of Warren and Geminus.

"No!" shrieked Kendra, as Raxtus flew off after Navarog with the girl on his back.

"I trust Navarog 'bout as far as I can throw him," muttered Raxtus, flying after the demonic dragon.

"Why are you attacking us?" asked Geminus. "Warren gave you the Essence of Immunity, like he said!"

"So? I never said I wouldn't hurt him if he did."

Having caught up with Warren and Geminus, Navarog raised his arm back and slashed at Warren, raking him with his claws. Upon impact, Warren went flying off of Geminus' back and crashed into a grove.

"_That _was for refusing to hand over the Essence of Immunity when I first asked for it."

Geminus soared down to where Warren had landed, prompting Raxtus to follow her in pursuit.

"Get... out of... here..." gasped Warren, face down on the ground, bleeding heavily. "Save yourself."

Navarog landed nearby, nearly causing an earthquake as he made contact with the ground. "All right, Kendra. I know you have Disapirit. I suggest you give it to me. NOW!"

Kendra looked down at the Disapirit that she was holding in her hands. The last instrument remaining, it was the only thing standing between Navarog possessing the complete set. Though she could theoretically hide forever, Navarog needed to be stopped as soon as possible.

"Raxtus," whimpered Kendra, looking up at the vile dragon that was Navarog, frozen in fear, "what are we going to do?"


	31. Fairyprime

**Chapter 31 – Fairyprime**

Navarog gazed down at Kendra, who was on Raxtus' back, hugging him by his neck. Raxtus and Kendra both looked up at the demon prince, not knowing what they could do to stop him.

"You know what I want," said Navarog. "Give it to me, or I'll do something most unpleasant to Warren,"

Navarog pointed over towards Warren, who was laying on the ground, bleeding heavily. Clover was floating above him, looking quite distressed, along with Geminus.

"Raxtus," said Kendra, "what can I do? Now that Navarog has the Essence of Immunity, even Vasilis will be unable to harm him. We can't win."

"That's right," said Navarog. "Let's just get this over with and give me the Disapirit already. You know that you can't defeat me."

"I've got an idea," said Raxtus. "It's not a good one, but it'll buy us some time. Geminus! Get Warren to safety!"

Geminus nodded and scooped Warren up in her arms, then flew off.

Navarog snorted, watching as Geminus flew away. "I could care less about Warren. He's good as dead."

Suddenly, Raxtus zipped off into the air after Geminus, taunting Navarog into a pursuit. As long as they used the Disapirit, Navarog would be unable to catch both Kendra and Raxtus. But it was apparent that they couldn't run from Navarog for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Geminus found a cave within a small knoll and dove down into it. Not knowing where else to hide, Raxtus followed Geminus inside, as it was far too large for Navarog to fit inside of. Geminus placed Warren down on the floor several yards into the cave.

"I don't know if he's going to make it," said Clover sadly, as if she was going to cry. "Raxtus, Geminus and myself only have so much power, and so little time."

Just then, Navarog's massive claw wormed its way through the entrance to the small cavern that Kendra and the others were in, but was unable to reach them. Navarog wiggled his scaly fingers, hoping to grab anyone inside the cave, but couldn't get close enough.

"Come out," growled Navarog from outside the cave. "Hiding like this is futile."

Kendra looked away from Navarog's claw and over at Warren, whom she could sense was going to soon bleed to death. "I can't stand to see him like this," said Kendra to herself. "There's no time to help him now."

Kendra tried looking for another way out of the cave, but quickly came to the realization that the way they came in was the only entrance, and was currently blocked by Navarog's arm. Additionally, she wasn't sure of how to use the Disapirit to climb through solid ground, especially if she had to drag Warren along with her.

"Fairies!" yelled Kendra. "Wherever you are! Help me!"

At that moment, Bright appeared by Kendra's side, along with Tiara and Opal. But the fairies didn't stop there, as several dozen more fairies appeared, many of which Kendra recognized from the garden around the house.

"Kendra?" asked Bright. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Where's Tanu?" asked Tiara.

"And Vanessa?" asked Opal.

"Thing are very bad!" said Kendra, not wanting to upset Opal. "Navarog is outside, trying to attack us!"

"Oh no," gasped Bright, watching Navarog's claw in terror, "Kendra, you know that us fairies are powerless against dragons, let alone a demonic one! What are we supposed to do?"

"I want you to heal Warren," said Kendra. "All of you. Even if Navarog can't be stopped, I can't stand to see Warren suffer."

"Understood," said Bright, turning her back to face her fellow fairies. "All right, girls! Heal Warren!"

Bright led the rest of the fairies over to Warren, who rose his hands into the air, bloody palms faced out.

"STOP!" Warren muttered, causing all the fairies to come to a halt.

"Warren?" asked Bright. "What's wrong? Don't you want us to heal you?"

"Forget me," said Warren. "Help Kendra."

"How?" asked Opal.

"I don't know," said Warren. "Just help her. Don't waste your power on me. She's fairykind, but not a fairy. Maybe, just maybe, she can use your power against Navarog."

Bright winced. "All right. Change of plans, fairies! Transfer all of your power to Kendra! As daughter of the Fairy Queen, and a fairy princess, I order you all to obey!"

All the fairies then flew back over to Kendra, except for Clover.

"Clover," said Warren faintly, "go with them."

"Absolutely not! I'm never giving up on you! You're more than my responsibility. You're my friend."

Meanwhile, the rest of the fairies all circles around Kendra, before suddenly flying directly into her body one-by-one, essentially vanishing in the process.

"Where'd they go?" asked Raxtus.

"They're lending their power to Kendra," said Geminus. "As fairy dragons, we can do it as well. Come on!"

Kendra could feel a strange sensation building up in her body every time a fairy flew into her. Finally, Raxtus and Geminus both unleashed a tingling mist upon Kendra, but did not disappear. Instead, they were simply felt feeling exhausted.

"What's happening to me?" asked Kendra, who could feel that her back was starting to swell.

"Your hair!" exclaimed Clover, now perched upon Warren's shoulder.

"Your... wings?" squealed Raxtus.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kendra, who could feel as two lumps grew out of her shoulder blades, ripping through her shirt in the process. Kendra had grown wings, and quickly realized that she even had control over them.

"Kendra," said Warren. "You're... a fairy. Not just fairykind, but a real, bona fide fairy."

"If you want to get technical, she's fairyprime," said Clover. "A step beyond fairykind. But I've only ever heard legends about this. It's never been utilized ever before."

Kendra was in disbelief. Not only had she grown silvery dragonfly-like wings, but upon examining some of her hair, saw that it was in streaks of rainbow colors, not unlike Bright's.

Just then, the entire roof the cave was suddenly ripped open by none other than Navarog, who looked furious.

"Sorry to break up the party. Now hand over the Disapirit!"

With all the fairy power surging through her, Kendra no longer felt afraid. She felt like she could do _anything_. But what was she to do with this new-found power? Stop Navarog? Probably not. Help Seth? Definitely.

"What happened to _you,_ Kendra?" asked Navarog, gleaming down at her. From the way he was talking, Navarog sounded like he was about to laugh.

Holding the Disapirt, Kendra flapped her wings and floated up towards Navarog's face, intent on doing something not to the dragon himself, but to Seth.

"Why thank you," said Navarog, ripping the Disapirit from Kendra's hands. "Wait a minute, is this a fake? You'd never just GIVE it to me!"

"Not a fake," said Kendra. "And neither is _this_!"

Kendra darted forward and plucked her lips on Navarog's snouth, catching the monster completely off-guard. As her lips made contact with Navarog, Kendra could feel energy surging through her body and into his.

Navarog flinched and stepped away from Kendra. "Eww! You fool! Even you know that I'm not Gavin! I'm..."

"Seth," said the dragon in a far-less ferocious voice.

Kendra's heart jumped when she heard "Navarog" utter her brother's voice.

"Shut up," growled Navarog, seemingly to himself. "Even if your sister and her loser fairies try to stop me, they're too late!"

Navarog raised his claw back and slapped it forward at Kendra, knocking her back several acres. However, she gained control of her flight using her wings and fluttered back towards Navarog, who was holding a claw up against his mouth. Suddenly, vomit poured out of Navarog's mouth like a waterfall and onto his claw.

"No," gasped Kendra to herself. She quickly theorized that Navarog was panning through his stomach acids for the other instruments of eternal power.

Grovelins, a few of which were dead, flowed out of Navarog's mouth and off of his claw, while he attempted barf up the remaining instruments.

"Stop!" shouted Kendra, flying towards Navarog a second time, only to get knocked back like before.

"Leave my sister alone!" said Seth, from within Navarog.

"Silence!" hissed Navarog, trying to assemble all five of the instruments together in his claws. Although they were tiny, he was able to manage arranging them all in a star-shaped formation "YES! I've done it!"

Though small in comparison to Navarog, Kendra could see that the Omega Star had been fully formed, and was resting on the palm of Navarog's claw. The five crystals of the Omega Star were now gleaming with power.

"Seth!" shouted Kendra. "Help!"

"Let's see if this thing really works." said Navarog, clenching the Omega Star in his claw. "Now, just so that this never happens again, I wish to live as a dragon forever!"

Navarog unfurled his fingers and watched as the Omega Star flickered, then flashed brightly in a rainbow of colors. Part of Kendra was uncertain. Did the wish really come true or not?

"If this wish came true, you'll never stop me now," said Navarog, looking at Kendra. "Now let's try a wish that's more short term. I wish you'd drop dead!"

Navarog looked down at the Omega Star in his hand, and saw that it wasn't doing anything.

"The Omega Star was designed to never hurt anyone," said Kendra. "In case a dark-hearted being like yourself ever got a hold of it."

"Fine," said Navarog. "If it can't kill you directly; I wish for a lighting bolt to hit you!"

As with the previous wish Navarog had made, nothing happened.

"What is WRONG with this thing?" huffed Navarog. "I wish a lightning bolt would strike that tree!"

The Omega Star flashed again, and this time, a bolt of lightning did in fact surge down from the sky, hitting a nearby tree, instantly smouldering it.

Navarog laughed. "Fine. I don't need to wish for your death. I'll make painless a wish that will end up killing you on its own. "I wish that Kendra would turn into a mouse!"

Granting Navarog's wish, the Omega Star worked its magic and suddenly, Kendra could feel her body shrinking. With her wings gone, and her body indeed turning into that of a mouse's she began plummeting to the ground as Navarog laughed at her misfortune.

However, Kendra could still feel fairy magic surging through her, and almost instinctively, used it to transform herself back into her fairyprime form just before she would've hit the ground., where she was able to keep aloft with her wings.

"Incredible!" said Kendra to herself, floating back up to Navarog's face.

"This ends now!" roared Navarog, as he opened his mouth and prepared to blast Kendra with a huge wave of fire, which she fortunately swerved away from to avoid.

"Stop!" shouted Seth, causing the fire to stop. "Leave my sister alone! I won't let you hurt her!"

Navarog squinted his eyes and began gnashing his teeth. "Keep out of this, Seth! I'll deal with you first if I must!"

"You can't!" exclaimed Kendra. "You need Seth! Without him, you're powerless!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Navarog. "I don't need him anymore! Not now that I have Omega Star!"

Kendra closed her eyes and tried to think of a plan. One popped into her mind. But she didn't know if it would work. If it didn't, it would only make things worse. "You _do_ need Seth!" she blurted. "You need him because you're no longer a proper being! Not since Raxtus ate your body! Without Seth, you're just a spirit! You need Seth!"

"I said I don't!" growled Navarog, his yellow eyes glowing with rage. "He's a nuisance to me now!

"You're sharing his body and you know it. I'd say you do!"

"I do _not_ need the _fucking_ boy!" blared Navarog. "You want him back? FINE! Take him! Then I can be rid of you all!" Navarog then clenched the Omega Star tightly. "I wish to have a proper body again, separate from Seth!"

The Omega Star glowed intensely, creating another rainbow-like flash. From what Kendra could tell, all that happened to Navarog was that he suddenly disappeared and magically reappeared off to one side by several yards, but otherwise remained completely unchanged.

"Did it work?" asked Navarog, who seemed somewhat confused, as if he were trying to feel around for something. "The Omega Star! Where is it?"

"Looking for something?" asked Seth from down below, grabbing the attention of both Kendra and Navarog. The two of them looked down and could see Seth, now a human, standing on the ground where Navarog had previously been positioned, holding the Omega Star. "The Omega Star's been in my hands all along, even when you controlled them."

"SETH!" shrieked Kendra, flying down towards her brother.

"The Omega Star!" exclaimed Navarog, reaching down to grab Seth. "No!"

Kendra swooped downwards and grabbed Seth before Navarog could bend over and grab them, then flew him into the air. Despite the fact that Seth was heavier than herself, Kendra's fairyprime power gave her the strength she needed to lift her brother into the air.

"Kendra..." gasped Seth, tears streaming from his eyes as he threw his arms around his sister, hugging her.

"Seth," sobbed Kendra. "It's okay. You're back now."

Navarog blasted a wall of fire at the two Sorenson siblings, but Kendra responded by holding up her hand, bringing the fire to a halt in midair through the use of her power.

"Awesome," said Seth. "By the way, sis, nice hair! You look like a clown!"

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Just stop him already!"

"Right," noted Seth, focusing on the Omega Star in his hands. "I, uh... wish Navarog could never hurt anybody."

Navarog attempted to blast more fire at Kendra and Seth, but couldn't even emit a single spark from his mouth. "What's going on?" he coughed. "What did you do?" Navarog then reached for Kendra and Seth with his claws, but was seemingly held back by some kind of invisible force field. "Hey! Stop!"

Kendra flew Seth back down into the roofless cave, where Clover, Raxtus and Geminus were still tending to a brutally wounded Warren, however, they all appeared to be weary.

"Hurry, Seth," said Kendra, directing her brother to Warren.

"I wish for Warren to be fully healed." said Seth, counting on the Omega Star to grant his wish.

"Look out!" cried Kendra, as she held her hands in the air, stopping a huge boulder from crashing in on the open cave in midair.

"Whoa," said Warren, now standing up on his own two feet. Because of Seth's wish he appeared to be in perfect shape.

"No!" roared Navarog from outside the cave. "You can't! I'm not the one hurting you, the boulder is!"

"I wish the boulder would disappear," said Seth. Upon saying those very words, the boulder instantly vanished.

"Incredible," said Kendra. "But what do we do about Navarog? The Omega Star can't harm a living being, so making him disappear won't work. And he wished to live forever."

"Then I'll at least unwish his wish!" said Seth. "I wish that Navarog would _not_ live forever!"

Everyone waited around for a moment, but the Omega Star did nothing.

"Ha!" laughed Navarog. "You can't get rid of me! When I wished to live for a dragon forever, I really meant it! Not even the Omega Star can help you now!"

"Maybe I could turn _him_ into a mouse," said Seth.

"Not if Navarog wished to live as a _dragon_ forever," said Warren.

"That's right," said Navarog. "None of your stupid wishes will change me now. I am practically a god now."

"Oh yeah?" asked Seth. "I wish for Navarog to be weak and powerless!"

The Omega Star glowed again.

"I feel funny," said Navarog, "Feel all weak."

Navarog curled his tail back and slammed it against a tree. However, he didn't so much as even dent it.

"OW!" he yelled. "What did you do to me?"

"Nice going," said Kendra. "Now he'll never hurt anything!"

"But we've gotta get rid of him!" exclaimed Kendra. "He's going to be around forever!"

"Turn him to stone?" suggested Clover.

"No," said Kendra. "That would violate his wish to live forever, so it won't work."

"Maybe wish for him to be good?" asked Raxtus.

"Navarog is a demon. And demons are pure evil. They'd die before turning good."

"Send him far away, then?" suggested Seth.

"How 'bout Silicon Station?" asked Geminus. "That place is pretty far from Earth."

"But if Navarog can live forever, he'd be able to survive outer space and potentially find a way back to Earth in the future," said Kendra.

"There's gotta be somewhere we can send him!" moaned Seth. "The new demon prison?"

"What?" exclaimed Navarog sarcastically, "Oh yes, do send me _there_! I'll never bother you again if you do."

Kendra pondered to herself for a moment. "Don't do it, Seth. He'll try and conspire with the demons in there, I just know it."

Warren's face suddenly lit up. "A-ha! Seth, let me have the Omega Star! Please!"

"I hope you know what you're doing," said Seth, handing the Omega Star over to Warren.

"We wanna get rid of Navarog, right?" asked Warren. "Well, I know just the place!"

Warren looked up at Navarog, with a wicked grin etched upon his face.

"Oh, no," gasped Navarog, who could sense what Warren was planning.

"I wish..." began Warren.

"Don't!" blurted Navarog, flailing his arms around.

"for Navarog..."

"Stop!"

"to be banished..."

"Have mercy!"

"to inside the knapsack!"

"Forever!" added Seth, placing his hand on the Omega Star along with Warren's.

"Noooooo!" cried Navarog, as the Omega Star glowed in all the colors of the rainbow. Everyone then watched as he slowly faded away into thin air, his face etched in horror.


	32. Harmony

**Chapter 32 – Harmony**

Seth fell to his knees and immediately started breathing in and out heavily.

"Seth?" asked Kendra, placing a hand upon her brother's shoulder, "are you okay?"

Seth didn't answer. Instead, he continued breathing heavily and started to cry, but couldn't respond.

"It's okay, Seth," said Warren, placing his hand on Seth's other shoulder. "You were fine a moment ago. But Navarog's gone now. You should be thrilled."

"It was horrible," bawled Seth. "For two months I was possessed by that... that monster! I had to do everything he wanted! I... ate people. I killed Elise and Vanessa. I had no control. Not until you kissed me, Kendra."

Kendra blushed. Suddenly, all the fairies that had previously flown into Kendra flew out of her body, as did two balls of energy, which flew back into Raxtus and Geminus. In turn, Kendra's rainbow-colored hair turned back to normal, and her wings sunk back into her shoulder blades.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra.

"Fairyprime is a form that fairykind can assume," said Bright, flying up to Kendra's face. "Its where fairies lend you their power to harness for your own use. It's hazardous to attempt on someone who isn't fairykind, even if they're fairystruck."

"Is everything all right?" asked Tiara. "Where are Tanu and Vanessa?"

"Tanu got gored by Navarog," said Kendra, nearly afraid to continue. "And Vanessa was eaten."

"No!" shrieked Opal, whose smile quickly vanished. "Why?"

"We'll explain later," said Kendra, trying not to cry. "We need to find Tanu. Maybe we can still save him!"

Kendra accepted the Omega Star from Warren, and held it in her hands. "I wish that we were with Tanu."

As if she were travelling through the Translocator, the torn-open cave that Kendra was in suddenly phased out of existence, and was replaced with the garden surrounding Fablehaven. Having been teleported to this spot along with everyone else who had been in the cave, Kendra gazed up Tanu. Still a giant, Tanu was lying unconscious on the ground and bleeding massively.

"I wish Tanu was fully healed," said Kendra. "And his normal size again as well."

The Omega Star glowed, and everyone watched as Tanu shrank back to his large, but otherwise normal self, and stood up, feeling perfectly healthy.

"What's going on?" he asked, before noticing what Kendra was holding onto. "The Omega Star? My god, how did you ever get it from Navarog?"

"We'll explain later," said Warren, grabbing the Omega Star from Kendra's hands. "I wish that Vanessa was alive and well."

Everyone waited a moment for the Omega Star to respond. But nothing happened.

"It's not working," said Opal. "Why won't it work?"

"I know that it's not supposed to bring people back to life," said Warren. "But I thought that maybe..."

Warren slowly put his head down and handed the Omega Star back to Kendra, who was looking at the destroyed house."I wish that Fablehaven was restored, back to the way it was before Navarog attacked."

The Omega Star glowed in Kendra's arms, as everyone fixated their eyes on where the house stood. Just as soon as the debris and rubble vanished, the house magically appeared in its place, completely restored. Trees that had been crushed or burned by Navarog also grew back to health, as if by magic.

"What about our family?" asked Seth.

Tanu sighed. "I don't know. If Navarog was telling the truth, then the house collapsed on them. I'm sorry."

"I only wished to restore the preserve," said Kendra. "I don't know what happened to anyone that was inside the house. If they're dead..."

"I've got an idea," said Seth. "Wish for everyone who was in the house to appear. If nothing else, at least we'll know what happened to them."

Kendra nodded. "Okay. "I'll try. I wish that my mother, my father, Grandpa Sorenson, Grandma Sorenson and Dale, if they're alive, would appear before me."

The Omega Star glowed, causing all five people that Kendra requested for to suddenly appear on the ground, completely unharmed.

"What's going on?" asked Mr. Sorenson, coming to his senses and looking around.

"Mom?" asked Seth. "Dad?"

"SETH!" screamed Mrs. Sorenson, as she threw her arms around her son, shedding tears. "Oh, Seth, you're all right."

"We missed you so much," said Mr. Sorenson, hugging his son.

"You... did it," said Grandpa, eyeing the Omega Star. "You really did it."

"How did you guys survive the house collapsing?" asked Warren.

"Dale saw Navarog and warned all of us," said Grandma. "So we headed down to the dungeon. The magic protecting it is like a bomb shelter, separate from the register. We were safe down there, even though we were trapped."

"What happened to Vanessa?" asked Grandpa, trying to find the missing Knight of the Dawn in the small crowd.

"Navarog ate her," said Opal, looking miserable.

The Sorenson's and Dale's jaws all dropped upon hearing the bad news. "I'm so sorry," said Grandpa.

Kendra and the others then went on to explain how Navarog fought them, managed to assemble the Omega Star, and how she was able to stand up to him as fairyprime to save Seth.

"You became fairyprime?" asked Grandma."But... that's only in legends!"

"Legend, schmegend," said Bright, "this was real!"

"I've gotta ask you guys," said Dale, "what happened with Navarog?"

"Well, we couldn't destroy him," said Warren, "so I wished for him to be banished to the knapsack. I know it's tight fit for a guy his size, but I thought it'd be a rightful punishment for him."

"You think anyone might attempt to find him?" asked Grandma.

"Doubt it," said Warren. "No one else would know to look for him in there, and I'm positive there's no way out that doesn't involve powerful magic. Besides, if he's been banished there-"

"Permanently," added Seth.

"Then he can never leave," finished Warren.

"A big dragon like him trapped in that not-so large storage room?" asked Grandpa.

"Serves him right," said Warren. "Besides, we previously took out everything there is of value in there, so he'd be bored to death, except for the fact that he can't die. He can't even play Yahtzee by himself."

"Thank you for saving me, guys," said Seth. "I'm sorry that it came at such a high price, with both Elise and Vanessa. Maybe I should just wish away my shadow charmer ability. It's more trouble than its worth."

"Seth," said Kendra. "Are you sure?"

"Hold everything," said Grandpa. "Seth, I know that you consider this a burden, and yes, it allowed Navarog to rise to power. But, learning how to master your hidden talent, even though its a dark one, might be the smarter choice."

"So what happens now?" asked Dale. "Now that you've recovered all five instruments of eternal power, that is."

"Let's get some shut-eye, first," said Grandpa. "We've had a very long day. Tomorrow we can decide what to do now that the Knights have finished their quest."

"I guess this is goodbye," said Bright.

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra.

"Our job was to aid you on your quest," said Geminus. "Now that it's over, we need to return to the fairy kingdom."

"We're gonna be fairy angels now," said Clover. "We'll have the power of fifty fairies each!"

"I'm going to miss you," said Kendra, giving Bright a hug. Clover and Tiara followed by hugging Warren and Tanu respectively. Having no one to turn to, Opal hugged Kendra.

"I'll miss you, too, "said Raxtus, hugging Kendra. "But we'll come back to visit. Don't worry."

Bright, Clover, Tiara, Opal, Geminus and Raxtus all flapped their wings and took off in the direction of the naiad's pond and the newly-restored shrine of the Fairy Queen. As they flew off over the treetops, everyone back by the house bid them farewell.

* * *

Over the next few days, Grandpa and Grandma decided to entrust the Omega Star to the Fairy Queen. As useful as it was, the Omega Star was dangerously powerful, and needed to be left with someone responsible, rather than hiding it in an unsupervised vault somewhere. The Fairy Queen also promised that her realm was a safe haven for the five instruments, and entrusted them to a group of guards.

Before that had happened, Kendra used the Omega Star to grant two wishes. One was to remove her death records and cemetery plot from existence, if only for her to be accepted back into society.

The second was to wish Astro-Jet's consciousness into the phoenix statue at Rio Branco, and from there, transform it into a living bird. It would take some getting used to, but Astro-Jet would now be able to live a non-automated life. She chose to remain at Rio Branco, and quickly befriended Felvanor.

Laying on his bed, Seth stared at the ceiling above him. By now Kendra and Warren had relayed their entire journey to him several times, even though they were still saddened by Vanessa's loss. Seth pondered. Why was he forced to be a sitting duck the whole time, serving as an avatar to Navarog, while they went on heroic adventures to save the world? Words could not describe how Seth felt. It wasn't unfair. It was worse.

Passing by his open door, Kendra stopped and knocked on it. "Can I come in?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "I guess. What _aren't_ you allowed to do?

"Seth, it wasn't your fault. Don't feel so bad."

"Easy for you to say, Little-Miss-Perfect."

"I spoke to Grandpa about your condition earlier. How I kissed you while in my fairyprime form."

Seth snorted. "So what?"

Kendra sighed. "He said that with you being a shadow charmer, being kissed by fairyprime may have altered you into something else entirely. You'd still have your shadow charmer-like qualities, but now fairy magic is protecting you from external dark forces.

"Really?" asked Seth. "What's this state called?"

"Dunno," said Kendra. "You're the first instance of this happening, so they haven't come up with a name for it yet."

"Kendra?" asked Warren from down the hall.

"In here."

Kendra and Seth listened as footsteps approached the door and Warren entered the room.

"Kendra," said Warren, "you almost ready to go?"

"Go where?" asked Seth.

"We're going out for dinner with Bracken and Clover," said Kendra. "To a sushi place that Warren really likes. It'll be our first time seeing them since we took on Navarog."

"Yippee," said Seth. "As if fighting a dragon robot in outer space wasn't fun enough."

"It wasn't a dragon robot," said Warren. "It was a robot dragon. There's a huge difference. But anyway, would you like to join us for dinner, maybe?"

"Nah," said Seth, "shaking his head. "I'd only get in the way. Just leave me alone right here."

The doorbell rang, and the three of them listened as the front door was opened downstairs.

"That must be them," said Kendra. "Well, see ya, Seth!"

"If you're up to it, why not say hello to our guests," said Warren, as he and Kendra raced out of the room, closing the door behind them. They then ran downstairs and were greeted by three figures.

One was Clover, now the size of a human, wings no longer visible, wearing long jeans and a green tank top. The other two were white unicorns, one with a silvery mane, the other with a rainbow-colored one.

"Clover!" exclaimed Warren, giving the fairy woman a hug.

"Bracken!" said Kendra, watching as the silver-maned unicorn stood up on his hind legs and transformed into Bracken. "You're a proper unicorn again!"

"I can't thank you enough," said Bracken, throwing his arms around Kendra. I've missed being a unicorn."

"Come on in!" said Warren with a smile. "Flaunt your unicorn form to everyone!"

Kendra and Warren then took a good look at the other unicorn, as Bracken and Clover entered the house.

"Bright?" asked Kendra, watching as the unicorn shifted her shape into a human-sized Bright.

"Came to visit, huh?" asked Warren.

"I'm going to be visiting a lot," said Bright, shaking Kendra's hand. Her voice was not longer high-pitched, but still energetic. "Clover too."

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra. "You're a fairy angel now, right? Nothing personal, but why would you stick around here?"

"Clover and I have volunteered to become protectors for Fablehaven. Kinda like rangers in a sense. We'd keep the place in order. I'll be stationed around the fairy queen shrine, and Clover will be stationed in the garden."

"Really?" asked Warren.

"Absolutely. We took such a liking to Fablehaven and its inhabitants that we wanted to stay with them. Of course, Opal and Tiara didn't want to confine themselves to one place, and would rather explore the world at their leisure. But they do say hello!"

"What about Geminus?" asked Warren. "And Raxtus?"

Bright smirked. "I think they're in love. Geminus felt so alone after we lost Elise. But when she became a fairy dragon, Raxtus took an interest in her. It's like they were made for each other. So, Geminus chose to stay a dragon in the end."

"That's so sweet," said Kendra. "Raxtus always felt like he was the only fairy dragon in existence."

Bright nodded. "Mind if I step in for a moment?"

Kendra, Warren and Bright all walked into the foyer, where Bracken and Clover were talking to the other residents of the house, including Seth. When Bright entered, Seth suddenly turned his attention to her.

"Hey, it's the rainbow fairy!" said Seth, walking up to Bright.

"You like my hair?" asked Bright with a large grin.

"On you it looks pretty cool," said Seth. "Kendra's a whole different story."

"I don't think you've been properly introduced to these two fairies," said Bracken. "Seth, that chick with the green hair is Clover. And rainbow-locks here is Bright. My little sister."

"Nice to meet you," said Bright, extending her hand.

"Nice hair," said Seth, accepting her hand, his eyes still fixated on Bright's hair. Everyone else couldn't help but laugh.

"Your brother is really sweet, Kendra," said Bright. "Now that I finally got a chance to meet him properly, I can see him for who he is."

"Seth," said Bracken. "Would you and Bright like to join us for sushi?"

Seth's eyes lit up. "Mom, can I?"

"Of course."

"All right!" said Seth, as he, Kendra, Warren, Bracken, Bright and Clover all walked out into the front yard. Bracken then transformed into his unicorn form, his horn gleaming with brilliance.

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "How are we getting there? We can't just ride on your backs!"

"Guys, I'll just borrow the car," said Warren.

"Don't you know anything?" asked Bright, turning into a unicorn herself. "Unicorns can fly."

"Too bad you're not a unicorn," said Warren, facing Clover.

"Not by nature," said Clover, as she transformed into a green unicorn on the spot. "It helps to be a fairy angel, though."

Kendra then climbed onto Bracken's back, Seth got onto Bright's, while Warren did the same with Clover. The three unicorns then galloped off across the lawn, then leapt into the air and flew away across the forest.

* * *

The next day, Kendra was relaxing in the swimming pool, sitting on an inflatable chair. Underneath her sunglasses, her eyes were closed as she basked in the warmth of the noon hour sun. Her life was blissful once again. Not a care in the world.

Without warning, a heavy force came from under the water and knocked her entire body off of the chair, directly into the pool.

"SETH!" blared Kendra, as she stumbled to stand up in the pool. She glared at her brother, who was too busy laughing at her misfortune.

"I gotcha good!" laughed Seth.

At this point, several fairies from around the garden flew up to Kendra's side.

"What'll it be?" asked one of the fairies. "A seal? An otter? A pink flamingo?"

Kendra shook her head. "Vengeance has its place, but not against my brother."

Kendra walked over to Seth and slammed her arms against the surface of the water, letting a large wave splash him in the face. Seth shook his head in response, spitting water out of his mouth.

"Kendra!" said Seth. "I... I..."

"Yes?"

"I love you," said Seth, throwing his arms around his sister, giving her a firm hug.

**The End**

**A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this story! It took a while for me to finish it, but here it is! Be sure to check out the follow-up story "Siege on the Fairy Kingdom"!**


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